Don Tapscott is probably the most popular promoter of Open Innovation and creation of wealth in networks at the moment. In the middle of last month, Tapscott published a roadmap for Peer-Production. Now the businessweek article is available. Some quotes out of the Roadmap:

“First, think about how self-organized collaborations can change the way we invent, build, market, and distribute products and services—and build scenarios for your industry. Remember that its greatest impact today is in the production of information goods—and its initial effects are most visible in the production of software, media, entertainment, and culture—but peer production won’t stop there. We already see it at work in mutual funds (www.marketocracy.com), peer-to-peer lending systems (www.zopa.com), designer T-shirts (www.threadless.com), and to an increasing degree, in the production of complex physical goods such as cars, motorcycles, and airplanes (check out Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner).”

“Second, remind the doubters that open source doesn’t mean “no profits”—it means that the profits are migrating to new offerings, and increasingly these offerings are big business…”

“Third, abide by community norms. IBM not only accepted open-source software products and processes but also accepted its philosophy, which is to spur quality and fast growth rather than just profits based on proprietary ownership of intellectual property…”

“Fourth, remember that to reap, you must sow. When firms join a peer-production community, sharing is the continued price of admission to the community from which the firm derives various benefits…”

The last sentences give a great impression, what enormous potential Tapscott predicts when the acceptance and usage of Peer-Production and Innovation rises:

“It’s time to get your peer-production roadmap ready. Barriers to entry are vanishing and the trade-offs that individuals make when deciding to contribute voluntarily to projects and organizations are changing, creating opportunities to reconfigure the way we produce and exchange information, knowledge, and culture. Companies that recognize, address, and learn to tap peer production will benefit, while those that ignore and resist will miss important opportunities for innovation and cost reduction and may even go out of business.”