Tim O'Reilly
Why we spun out Maker Media
The Maker movement, like all enthusiast movements, is a harbinger of deeper change.
Today, O’Reilly Media announced that we have spun out Maker Media into a separate company. I want to give a bit of background on why we did this, and what we think the opportunity is for the new Maker Media company.
The arc from enthusiast to entrepreneur
Many of the most interesting technologies of the next decade will involve innovations…
RFP-EZ: Making it easier for small companies to bid on government contracts
RFP-EZ is a small step towards making it easier for new businesses to sell to government.
A few years ago, when I was doing the research that led to my work in open government, I had a conversation with Aneesh Chopra, later the first Federal CTO but at the time, the Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. I remember him telling me about the frustration of being in government, knowing that you…
Yelp partners with NYC and SF on restaurant inspection data
A joint effort by New York City, San Francisco, and Yelp brings government health data into Yelp reviews.
One of the key notions in my “Government as a Platform” advocacy has been that there are other ways to partner with the private sector besides hiring contractors and buying technology. One of the best of these is to provide data that can be used by the private sector to build or enrich their own citizen-facing services. Yes,…
Square Wallet, the Apple Store, and Uber: Software Above the Level of a Single Device
This is the beginning of a great rewiring of every aspect of business processes and interactions.
Back in 2003, Dave Stutz, in his parting letter to Microsoft, wrote a prescient line about the future of technology: “Useful software written above the level of the single device will command high margins for a long time to come. Stop looking over your shoulder and invent…
Open health data in practice: Increase your access to lab results
Voice your support for a proposed federal rule that expands patients' access to test results.
I’m convinced that there’s a wave of innovation coming in healthcare, driven by new kinds of data, new ways of extracting meaning from that data, and new business models that data can enable. That’s one of the reasons why we launched our StrataRx Conference, which focuses on the importance of data science to the future of health care.
Unfortunately, much…
Solving the Wanamaker problem for health care
Data science and technology give us the tools to revolutionize health care. Now we have to put them to use.
By Tim O’Reilly, Julie Steele, Mike Loukides and Colin Hill
“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.” — Jeff Hammerbacher, early Facebook employee
“Work on stuff that matters.” — Tim O’Reilly
In the early days of the 20th century, department…
Some sideways thinking about cyberwarfare
Cyberwarfare needs to be framed far more broadly.
When we hear the term “cyberwarfare” we think of government-backed hackers stealing data, or releasing viruses or other software exploits to disrupt another country’s capabilities, communications, or operations. We imagine terrorists or foreign hackers planning to destroy America’s power grid, financial systems, or communications networks, or stealing our secrets.
I’ve been thinking, though, that it may be useful…
The web as legacy technology
Examples of our evolving media landscape.
This tweet from @jamesrbuk (James Ball) caught my eye: “Average age of @guardian Facebook audience is 29. Website is 37, print paper 44. Amazing channel effect, really. #newsrw”
I’ve been thinking for some time how the web is “legacy” software, and that so many media companies just getting on the…
True in spirit: Why I liked "Captain America," but didn't like "John Carter"
A common and honest essence unites characters and businesses alike.
Why is the "Captain America" film a better adaptation than "John Carter"? Because "Captain America" understands the essence of what matters about the main character. The same notion applies to the authenticity of business brands.
Help drive the data revolution in health care
The goal of the Health Data Initiative is to be the NOAA of health data.
The Health Data Initiative’s annual “Health Datapalooza” is behing held June 5-6 in Washington, D.C. The deadline for applications is just a few weeks away (March 30).

