Yet, even if this revolution advances more slowly than he hopes, the trends he writes about are real and important, and his descriptions of how big companies are opening up their innovation processes to outsiders and the new ecosystem that is forming to finance start-ups should gladden the heart of any budding entrepreneur.

ECONOMIST: Starting out

And opening up also gets us innovation.

WHITEHOUSE: "Doing What Works" Transcript

"Now with globalization and different countries realizing the power of the diverse set of mobile services in other markets, iPhone and Android are opening up carrier networks to real innovation, " says Clayton.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Open Innovation is a real force multiplier for AFRL. By opening this challenge up to the world through Innocentive, we were able to multiply the number of people thinking about this problem over 100-fold, and received a workable solution within a 60-day period.

WHITEHOUSE: Office of Science and Technology Policy Blog

From Downing Street to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Google, organisations and governments the world over are opening up to better engage with their audiences and customers and tap into external resources to fuel innovation.

BBC: Viewpoint: Why disruption is good for business