"Next week, I’ll give what I think is a potential plan for Montreal to take the lead in Open Source commercialization."
I hope he isn't going to ask for government money.
I think there's some serious opportunity for some jurisdiction to pwn Open Source startups with significant tax incentives for Open Source development.
What about tax incentives on salaries for developers who release code under an OSI license? Incentives for "soft" Open Source work like community management? Infrastructure like an accelerator space, business development aid?
Building a market helps, too. Vancouver has made it city policy to put Open Source software on an equal footing with proprietary software.
http://eaves.ca/2009/05/14/vancouver-enters-the-age-of-the-o...
Other governments have chosen to use OSS exclusively.
If there's not yet an established Open Source startup hub (and I think there's not), there's an opportunity for cities around the world to claim that mantle. And that's going to take the contributions of all stakeholders.
Cheap, fast internet connections: the city could engage with Ile Sans Fil. Municipal fiber too.
The biggest challenges are not technological. On the political front, I think we're falling far short of what we'd need to compete.
my city and transit system offers that info to locals if they want to compete.