I'm at the Open Source Business Conference (OSBC) in San Francisco this week. The theme of the event is "Putting Open Source to Work." In his opening remarks Matt Asay noted that we're well beyond open source as an uncertain phenomenon. Enterprises all over the world are using open source in mission critical enterprise applications and the numbers are rising. 65% of the respondents to one of the surveys he referenced said that open source sparked innovation in their enterprise.

The Sakai community is demonstrating a great deal of innovation in eLearning software. New tools, capabilities, improvements in the user experience, accessibility enhancements, and integration with other core technologies are being added very rapidly. I'm very pleased to see growing momentum in the teaching and learning focused part of the community. One example of this is a new program to recognize innovation using Sakai as a platform for teachers and students to engage with one another in innovative ways. The stories and examples that come from this award program will be great examples of "putting open source to work."