On October 16, 2024, the 1st Digital Economy Open Source Innovation Academic Conference and the Open Source Innovation Education Forum was held in Shanghai. The event brought together leading foreign and local experts and scholars from both academia and industry, to explore the forefront of open source innovation in the digital economy era. Professor Sai LAN, GDBA Supervisor at emlyon business school and Associate Operations Director of the Business Intelligence Center (BIC), was invited to participate and hosted the "Open Source and Organizational Change Theory Construction" forum.

At the forum, Professor Sai LAN, along with scholars and industry leaders from renowned institutions such as Beijing University of Science and Technology, Fudan University, Huawei, Red Hat China, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and Shanghai UIBE, engaged in deep discussions on the profound impact of open source on organizational structures and management models. Professor LAN emphasized that open source, as an emerging model of open innovation, is comprehensively reshaping the structure, management approach, and strategic planning of enterprises.

The forum participants critically examined the limitations of traditional corporate management theories in addressing open source innovation and explored the development of new theoretical frameworks to effectively tackle challenges posed by open source. They also scrutinized solutions to build sustainable competitive advantages for enterprises by leveraging open source ecosystems to drive strategic transformation.

Through this forum, Professor LAN and the other participants offered profound insights into the open source concept and organizational change, facilitating in-depth discussions between academia and industry on open source innovation. The event not only enhanced understanding of open source innovation across various sectors, but also laid a solid foundation for future theoretical developments and practical advancements in the open source field.

"Taste of Open Source".

Recently, Professor Sai LAN was invited to participate in a discussion hosted by Huawei's open source platform, "Taste of Open Source". The discussion focused on the development of the open source ecosystem driven by the smart era, explored the nuanced relationship between open source and commercialization, and highlighted the underlying logic of open source, along with the challenges and opportunities it presents. As a key participant in the discussion, Professor LAN drew on his deep academic expertise to analyze the evolution of open source and shared his unique insights on its future direction and potential.

"While open source and business may appear contradictory, without active involvement from enterprises, open source might not fully flourish."

"The study of open source software from an economic perspective has a long history. In his 2006 paper, Fitzgerald pointed out that open source, as a business model, has become mainstream."

"Open source is deeply rooted in the community-driven ethos of Western culture. Today, we must reconsider whether existing incentive mechanisms are sufficient to attract individuals to contribute to the open source ecosystem."

Professor Sai LAN

Associate Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship
GDBA Supervisor at emlyon business school
Academic Director of EDP Program
Associate Operations Director of Business Intelligence Center (BIC)

Digital Platform Ecosystem, Open Source Software Ecosystem, Technology Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship, Digital Transformation

Dr. LAN is Associate Professor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and GDBA Supervisor at emlyon business school. Dr. LAN has inter-disciplinary education background and rich work experiences in the IT industry in US, such as software architect for tech giant Motorola Inc., and several startup companies in Chicagoland. Dr. LAN earned his PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Then he became a faculty member of Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) and served as the founding director of PHBS Research Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Dr. LAN’s research interests focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, with special interests in digital platform, open source software ecosystems, and digital transformation. Dr. LAN has many SSCI and CSSCI journal publications, peer-reviewed academic book chapters, and paper presentations in major academic conferences, including Best Paper Awards in AOM and AIB annual conferences. He used to serve as the Asia Representative for the Academy of Management (AOM) STR division.

Dr. LAN provided media commentaries for Shenzhen TV, Phoenix TV, TV Korea, China Daily, Southern Daily, and Global Talents, etc. He also provided consulting and executive training services to companies like Huawei, Rolandberger, Accenture, Byte Dance, China Post, and many tech startups.