As an open and borderless new collaboration model, open source is the source of innovation, openness, sharing, and sustainable development of the digital economy. The great success of open source has also inspired many companies to apply the experience and lessons of open source software development within the organization, which is called internal source. At present, endogenous construction has become an important means for enterprises to improve R&D efficiency and release industrial efficiency. This is also true in the communications industry. At the same time, pain points such as insufficient capacity building, lack of enterprise-level open source cultural recognition and professional management teams have also become problems within various industries. Common pain points in source construction.
As a national team of state-owned enterprises and a leader in the communications industry, China Unicom has been deeply involved in the research and development of open source technology for many years. As an important part of the "one center and two centers" of China Unicom Group's network line, China Unicom is responsible for creating network innovation products, build a network smart operation system, establish a professional and large-scale R&D system, and are now at the forefront of enterprise endogenous governance.
At this year's OSCAR Open Source Industry Conference, we were also fortunate to invite Zhang Dongyang, an expert on China Unicom's smart network, to discuss the topic of endogenous governance in depth. Zhang Dongyang is an architecture design expert at China Unicom's Intelligent Network Innovation Center. He is responsible for the technical management of the Intelligent Network Innovation Center, including the construction of the center's technical system, technology selection, and technical plan review.
Before the meeting, we specially interviewed Mr. Zhang Dongyang and shared his thoughts and experiences on open source within the enterprise.
The following is the transcript of the interview.
Q1
Please introduce the internal open source situation of China Unicom Intelligent Network Innovation Center?
Since 2021, the Smart Network Innovation Center has actively promoted projects in the field of internal open source, covering all aspects of technology and applications, involving front-end development, cloud computing, big data analysis, artificial intelligence and other fields, aiming to promote open cooperation and technological innovation.
The open source governance process of the Intelligent Network Innovation Center has gone through multiple stages. Initially, the focus was on establishing an open source culture and philosophy and encouraging team members to participate in the open source community. Subsequently, an endogenous community is established to realize endogenous governance through the open source project management process and review mechanism, and promote the organic interaction between the endogenous community and the open source community.
At present, the Smart Network Innovation Center has formed a number of successful open source projects, some of which have been widely used. At the same time, by actively contributing code and providing technical support, we continue to promote the spread and development of open source culture within the center.
Q2
Has open source within communication companies become an industry trend?
According to survey data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, 66.67% of communications companies have implemented internal open source on their intranets. At present, open source within communication companies has become an industry trend. I think there are three reasons:
first, open source can promote technological innovation and rapid development, allowing companies to better adapt to market demands and competitive pressures;
Second, through open source, companies can attract more developers and technical experts to participate in projects and form a good technology ecosystem;
Third, open source can reduce the R&D costs of enterprises and achieve higher benefits by sharing resources and technology.
Q3
Under what circumstances do you think enterprises are suitable for internal open source?
It can be divided into three situations: first, the company needs to speed up product development and innovation capabilities; second, the company hopes to attract more developers and technical talents and establish a good technical community; third, the company hopes to reduce R&D costs, By sharing and reusing technical resources.
Q4
What special requirements do you think the communications industry has for endogenous governance?
I think we can look at it from four aspects:
First, products and services in the communications industry often need to meet strict technical standards and security requirements, so internal source governance needs to emphasize the rigor of code review, testing, and verification.
Second, in the communications industry, the standardization of network technologies, protocols, and interfaces is very important, so endogenous governance requires close cooperation with industry standards organizations and institutions.
Third, projects in the communications industry often need to run on different hardware and software platforms, so endogenous governance needs to support diversity and portability.
Fourth, since the communications industry involves a large number of patents and intellectual property rights, endogenous governance needs to clarify the ownership and management of intellectual property rights.
Q5
What challenges has China Unicom Intelligent Network Innovation Center encountered in the process of implementing internal open source governance?
First, the transformation process of establishing an open source culture and philosophy requires an investment of time and resources.
Secondly, coordinating the cooperation and participation of internal team members requires certain management and communication skills. The process of managing and maintaining open source projects is different from traditional project management and requires adaptation and adjustment.
Finally, building a community and ecosystem for open source projects takes time and active participation.
Q6
How does China Unicom Intelligent Network Innovation Center solve the above challenges one by one? What experiences can you share?
From the practical point of view of the Intelligent Network Innovation Center, the following aspects need to be considered to do a good job in internal open source work:
First, build an internal source community, strengthen internal training and publicity, and improve team members' understanding and participation in open source.
Second, establish a review, management and contribution mechanism for open source projects, including code review, version control, quality testing and other links to ensure the quality and security of open source projects.
Third, support the sustainable development and maintenance of open source projects, provide technical support and contribute resources such as code and documents, establish an effective incentive mechanism, and establish open communication channels and cooperation platforms.
Fourth, actively participate in the open source community and establish good cooperative relationships with external partners to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
Q7
What do you think is the biggest challenge for enterprises to promote the construction of endogenous culture?
The biggest challenge lies in changing traditional closed-minded thinking and competitive concepts. Under the traditional model, enterprises are often accustomed to protecting their own technology and intellectual property rights, while open source culture encourages sharing and cooperation, which requires active leadership and transformation of organizational culture.
Q8
In terms of endogenous governance, what kind of cooperation has China Unicom Intelligent Network Innovation Center and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology established?
China Unicom's Intelligent Network Innovation Center maintains a long-term cooperative relationship with China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, actively participates in the formulation and review of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology's standards, and strengthens the construction and management of the open source process standardization of the Intelligent Network Innovation Center.
In terms of endogenous governance of enterprises, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology provides professional consultation and guidance to help the Intelligent Network Innovation Center formulate governance strategies and development plans for endogenous governance; at the same time, it provides technical support and shares best practices to help the Intelligent Network Innovation Center solve problems Challenges and issues in endogenous governance.
Currently, the Smart Network Innovation Center has participated in the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology’s enterprise endogenous governance assessment, and the final results will be officially released at the 2023 OSCAR Open Source Industry Conference.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Zhang Dongyang also extended an invitation to the vast number of open source participants: Open source governance, trustworthy open source, and welcome all colleagues in the industry to attend the 2023 OSCAR Open Source Industry Conference to jointly build an open source ecosystem, jointly manage open source security, and share an open source feast.
See you there on September 21st.
This OSCAR Open Source Industry Conference will be held on September 21, 2023. We sincerely invite experts and industry elites from various industries to discuss the open source governance of enterprises and jointly promote the construction of open source ecosystem in various industries.
