David H. Deans

Jackie, you said "Quite frankly, this means treating these agencies like a community: bringing them along with you on your journey, rather than asking them to deliver project work."

I believe that the transition you describe -- the death of traditional (obsolete) marketing -- also requires internal changes at Red Hat. The corporate marketer role now becomes more of a marketing practitioner (performing the essential work) and less of a program manager role (outsourcing the work to agencies and/or contractors).

In the same way that Red Hat software developers are active "contributors" to open source communities, the digital marketers of today must also *practice* their profession -- research markets, conceive strategy and create meaningful and substantive narrative that engages and inspires customers and other stakeholders in the Red Hat ecosystem.

Would you consider this progressive view of 21st Century market development?

My point: at the recognized market leaders in the technology space, the focal point is not the agencies, it's developing the internal talent (employees) to become meaningful and substantive influencers of sentiment towards the brand. When you embrace this reality, then you can truly evolve. You totally let go of the past. Live in the present. Create the compelling content.

Mark, I was not familiar with the 'Digital India' program, but now that I've read about their bold goals and objectives, it would seem that Open Networking hardware would also be an asset to their cause.

One of the greatest obstacles to achieving Internet access for citizens in rural parts of developing nations is the legacy cost of Telecom infrastructure. Granted, lower-cost wireless communication cell sites have helped to make Mobile Internet services available in some areas, but more needs to be done to lower the common barriers to citizen participation.

Locally affordable connectivity to the Global Networked Economy is a key component of becoming a digitally empowered society. Open source software and open hardware platforms are essential tools to build a solid foundation for communication utilities that are -- by design -- focused on citizen inclusion and equal opportunities for economic progress.