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An Open Approach to Modelling |
Can we do to spreadsheets what the wiki did for encyclopedias?
The following article Open Source as a Business Approach by Dr Janet Hope at the ANU has produced some interesting analysis of open source business models and how they might be applied to the biotechnology industry.
Reading the article prompted me to ask the question, can we use an open source approach to model complex problems such as those associated with climate change? Put more succinctly, can we do to spreadsheets what the wiki did for encyclopedias?
For an open modelling environment to be successful it would need to confer to its users the same benefits that Wikipedia has to its community.
Benefits of Wikipedia over conventional encyclopedias
| Benefit |
How this is achieved in Wikipedia |
| Neutrality |
Wiki articles tend towards neutral points of view given sufficient time and sufficient numbers of editors. |
| Coverage |
Because of the large contribution base, Wikipedia has achieved a wide coverage of topics. |
| Verifiable |
Claims made in articles must reference reliable sources. Those references can be followed by readers in order for them to assess the quality of the article. |
| Simplicity |
The simplicity of the wiki mark-up allows non technical user to edit articles without having to understand HTML or other details of the implementation of MediaWiki. |
| Searchable |
Due to the text based nature, wikis are easily indexed by search engines and so users can find the content they are seeking quickly. |
| Timeliness |
Articles can be edited quickly by the community in response to real world events. Articles are typically more up to date than their printed companions. |
| Interoperability |
Wiki articles are easily referenced, both internally by other Wiki articles, and externally by 3rd party websites. This allows for wikipedia articles to be easily incorporated into other websites. |
| Full History |
Users can review the history and discussions around an article to help make informed decisions about the quality of the article. |
| Public Domain |
Wikipedia offers the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License which makes the syndication and adaptation of content easy and free. |
The first challenge with producing an open modelling equivalent will be to develop an interface that is as simple as wiki mark-up and which is simultaneously text based so that it is available to search engines. |
