OER Knowledge CloudConference PaperOpen education to develop the workforce and expand the economyOpen education to develop the workforce and expand the economy2009Burrus, Sidney C.Wang, HFNeace, MBZhu, YGDuch, W.workforce educationeducationcostconnexionsengInt Assoc Informat & Management Sci; Tsinghu Univ; Chinese Univ Hong Kong; Waseda Univ; KAISTA well educated workforce and professional population is absolutely necessary for a thriving business climate and a healthy economy. This is the foundation of the American, European, and parts of the Asian development. Indeed, concern over education is one of the top issues in virtually all countries that are trying to improve the quality of life for their citizens. Although there is disagreement as to how to achieve a high quality education, there is agreement that high quality educational resources should be available and accessible to all who want them. This paper looks at the Open Educational Resource movement as a means to efficiently create, maintain, disseminate, and use materials and content at a very low cost. A particular system called Connexions (www.cnx.org) is described for use in a very wide set of educational systems.Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 USA