Open Source Piggies

=Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement(CCSI) vs. Open Source Spying=

CCSI Goals
The Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement is a not for profit organization devoted to collecting data on Canadian pigs (genetics, feeding methods, breeding methods, etc.) and sharing that information in an open forum in order to improve the competitiveness of Canadian swine in a global market. From their website "CCSI's mission is to enhance the ability of the Canadian swine industry to compete domestically and abroad, by providing leadership, coordination and services for swine genetic improvement."

Organization
CCSI is broken up into regional departments and other member organizations, all contributing data for the furthering of Canadian swine. Ontario Swine Improvement (OSI) is responsible for the testing of 1/3 of the pigs tested by CCSI annually. CCSI then organizes the collected data and publishes it in a year end Annual Report for the betterment of Canadian swine-breeding.

Annual Report
CCSI has been releasing annual reports since 1998, and each annual report deals with trends in genetic improvements in swine, fertility in swine, reports from prominent scientists, and tips on maximizing output from one's swine.

CCSI in Comparison to Open Source Spying
Raising pigs and catching terrorists are vastly different jobs, requiring different skills. However, both are examples of professions that can (and do) profit from the open-source model. In open source spying, as described by Clive Thompson, the use of the internet as a means of collaborating and compiling information can make it much easier for spy organizations to find information, as well as vastly increasing the manpower of those organizations. For swineherds in Canada, the CCSI helps breeders to better produce livestock and compete in a global marketplace by providing them with better data and scientific research on how to raise swine more effectively. Much like in open source spying, though, the idea is that, by organizing data collected from diverse origins and connecting related documents, open source can expedite the issue of finding pertinent and useful information to one's issue.

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