The reason behind the IAC

Work in progress...

Incentive to seek services from an IAC

• Expertise: The IAC member database is growing large and diverse. A team of engineers and technicians can be put together very dynamically, and they can be utilized with maximum efficiency.

• No lock-in: The IAC uses an open platform.

• Service: The IAC uses an open platform, which is understood by all members of the IAC. Anyone from the IAC community can, in principle, service a system. Therefore, continuity of service and development is ensured with no extra costs.

How should it work?

If you have an integration/automation project in mind, you need to chose the technology to realize it. In other words, you need to choose the hardware and the software, and to design a way to connect all the parts together. At this stage, you must realize that some solutions can cost you freedom and money down the road. If you decide to go with proprietary standards and products, in the future you will have to deal with the lock-in situation you set yourself in. You might want to consider going with open standards and open source and free tools, like the ones developed by the IAC community.

The second important question relevant to your project is about expertise. You need to chose the right people to do the job, and to make sure that they, or some other individuals with very similar skills, will be there in the future for further development and support. Most of the time we like to work with people from our environment, people we know. But if the project is implemented on open and free technology, which is understood by others, if your developer is not around when you need him/her, you can always get somebody else to help you.

When dealing with a for-profit company service is formally guarantied by a contract, but in reality these guarantees are very limited and full of surprises. Sometimes products get discontinued. In other cases the supplier is forced out of existence. Moreover, an even more critical problem is the lock-in situation that comes with purchasing expensive capital, with high switching costs. At the beginning of the negotiation the vendor is offering a very attractive service and upgrade package, but a limited one. Once the deal is signed and the warranty expires the supplier is in the position to charge very high prices for maintenance. Unserviceable capital looses its production value, as well as its resale value! Upgrade and adaptability also become natural, as new technology can be easily integrated into an older system built on an open general platform by IAC members. Remember that the IAC is a center of knowledge and know-how.

Others...

Industry advantages

The IAC will implement on a general and open platform, which will increase compatibility within the industry. Renual of technology and adaptability: see the previous section.

Others...

Incentive to join an IAC community as a developer

You need something that was developed by the IAC community.

• You want to contribute to society by sharing your achievements.

• You want to use open standards and open source and free tools to avoid being trapped by all sorts of binding agreements.

• You may want to stay in control of the value you create, to be recognized as the creator, and to benefit from your reputation, which is based on your open achievements.

The goal of the IAC network is to create real value for the beneficiaries of our creations. You, as part of a IAC community, will be able to provide solutions and support for these beneficiaries. When something that runes on this IAC creations brakes down, or when something needs to be expanded or modified, IAC members, which are already familiar with the technology, will be the first called for the job. As the IAC creations spread, you well benefit by

• Finding jobs

• Having work flexibility

• Working in a collaborative environment

• Managing your own career

Membership in the IAC community is FREE, and doesn't oblige you to anything. If you want, you can only join to use the IAC's creations. But you cannot sell them! All IAC creations are under Creative Commons (CC) license. You can only charge for your work, and everything you create on top of the IAC's creations, either shared or not shared with the IAC community, become Creative Commons as well. Collaboration is usually more beneficial than savage competition.

We encourage all developers to share their work within a IAC community. Your work can be expanded by someone else, one thing leads to another, and you can benefit again in the future from your input, long after your initial work payed off for you.

Example of IAC

Integration and Automation Community

Propose others here.