User:Daniel Mietchen/Slides/Business models

In principle, a wiki-based publishing and repository platform is compatible with all traditional forms of Open Access publishing business models (and technically, though not in spirit, also with reader-pays models), as reviewed here and here and here and also in the SOAP study (their data is CC0). As with most things OA, the major question in terms of business models is also whether the goal of Open Access should be achieved by way of the Green or Gold road, and thus rests on the definition of re-using content. The wiki model works best with maximal reusability, which requires a Gold approach. In addition to these generally available options, the wiki model allows for a number of additional - or more refined - business models, including the following:

1. (Comprehensive) Wikis make it relatively easy to identify gaps in current knowledge, so research funders (both public and private) could be willing to pay for such a service.
2. The fine-grained representation of knowledge in a wiki structure can be coupled with advertisement (and feeds) in an equally fine-grained manner. Providing such fine-grained advertising services (primarily for jobs and events, but possibly also for research-related products) could be another source of revenue, and one whose niche is not yet all too crowded, although Google's keyword-based approach comes close, as well as some tagging services.
3. Finally, since the online interactions of researchers tend to centre around data types, any integration with systems to acquire, process, visualize, store, semantify, share, retrieve and reuse data of a given kind (along with their metadata) will likely help creating a useful platform, so that user-targeted services stand a chance to become economically viable in time.

All of the models listed so far can of course be mixed to different degrees, even allowing for some cross-financing, thus providing for a lot of flexibility.

See also

• A business model for open courseware