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The Digitization Of China And Opportunities For Open-Source Collaboration

Forbes Technology Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Chip Childers

In my role as the CTO of the Cloud Foundry Foundation, I have the opportunity to travel the world, interacting with a wide range of cultures, people and organizations. This year I’ve been particularly focused on China, having visited Beijing (twice), Hong Kong, Shanghai and Hangzhou. I’d last been to China in 2015 when I visited Shanghai for a Foundation event. The two-and-a-half-year gap has given me a fresh perspective on the evolution of that market.

The rate of digitization in China is much faster than in western countries, and it seems to be accelerating. Similarly, the scale of technological investment is almost incomprehensibly enormous. This has massive implications for companies based in the U.S. and Europe, regardless as to whether they choose to do business in China.

It also presents fantastic opportunities for cross-border collaboration via open-source software development.

Digitization Is An Incredibly Powerful Force In China Right Now

Consider the adoption of mobile payment technologies like Alibaba’s Alipay or Tencent’s WeChat Pay within China. Trust me -- don’t try to go to a restaurant in a major Chinese city without a mobile payment app! Due to counterfeiting and fraud risks, cash and card use are increasingly uncommon. Even gift shopping in an airport with cash is difficult and sometimes not accepted. In 2017, China Tech Insights released a report on the adoption of mobile payment trends. It noted 40% of people in China carried less than 100 RMB cash (less than $15 USD at the time of writing). Most interesting to me is the acceptance of a cashless existence, with only 16% of individuals reporting any emotional discomfort at having no cash on hand.

Part of the reason for China’s accelerated pace is the purposeful transition the Chinese government is inspiring via the “Made in China 2025” initiative. In technology sectors, the program aims to transition Chinese business from the dominant “fast follower” approach to product development into a phase of significant original innovation and invention. Nearly every sector of the Chinese economy is becoming inventive and digitized. They are aggressively transforming industry and manufacturing and creating multiple industrial internet platforms.

Within the technology sector, the results of the changes sweeping across the country are both a source of funding and the inspiration to reinvest heavily in research and development. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent -- three technology giants known collectively in investment circles as BAT -- have a massive, broad range of product portfolios. All are investing heavily in advancing AI, blockchain, IoT and other innovations. These companies have taken advantage of the shift in consumer expectations to build massive cash-generating ecosystems for themselves. Even the latest crop of technology unicorns, such as Toutiao, Meituan-Dianping and Didi Chuxing, is driving toward original innovation through reinvestment.

Open-Source Innovation In China

The process of open-source collaboration is strongly aligned philosophically with the Chinese cultural perspective of ideas not being owned by anyone. While this historical philosophy may be a significant cause of angst for western companies when they want to protect their intellectual property, it actually makes use of open-source software natural for Chinese companies.

Only a few years ago, it was considered fairly standard for Chinese companies to be heavy users of open-source software. However, there was little expectation these users would contribute anything back to the projects themselves, and it would be difficult to get any meaningful information about actual software usage.

In recent years, open-source participation from China has begun to grow. Driven by the national goals to increase original innovation and invention, Chinese companies have been working diligently to understand the principles behind open source -- sharing, collaborating and working with competitors to do it. The engineers involved are opening up about the large-scale use cases they support. The opportunity for both western companies and open-source software projects to learn from these contributors is exciting.

Overcoming Open-Source Challenges

This isn’t to say the new wave of collaboration is easy, and there are a number of challenges that need to be understood and addressed.

One challenge in China is the perception that open source is a pool of ideas from which to select -- so a developer might take an idea and innovate on it to make it their own. “Forking” open-source projects is common, and while it lets Chinese developers innovate on a project independently, it can also leave them stranded and disconnected from the broader open-source community.

I believe the rationale for this habit of forking software projects lies somewhere between language and cultural differences. English is the standard open-source community language, which can be limiting for a non-native English-speaking developer. Western open-source projects tend to focus on the collaboration process as a primary concern, with the software resulting from that collaboration being an outcome. Without the ability to share perspectives or accept questions from other community participants, Chinese developers may struggle to deliver changes they are expected to accomplish.

While these challenges exist, the value of collaborating with a greater number of project participants, and with Chinese developers in particular, is well worth the effort to try to bridge the gap between cultures. If you are part of a western organization or an open-source developer looking to connect and collaborate with Chinese peers, be sensitive to differences in approach, have patience while communicating and expect misunderstandings. Take time to learn about Chinese culture and cultural expectations, including communication styles.

I believe the principles of open source are our greatest asset for navigating east-west relationships in the open-source community. It’s one reason my company exists: to serve as a common space for the community to hold open discussions, embrace new ideas and foster collaboration.

We need each other in an inclusive, global open-source community. Our differences are our strengths. So look for how differences add perspectives you don’t have. What can you learn from your Chinese peers?

China has much to offer and much to teach us. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn.

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