Stuart Cohen, the former CEO of the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), launched his new gig today - Collaborative Software Initiative (press release). Jay Lyman and I had the opportunity to sit down with Stuart last week and discuss his plans.

The new firm applies a collaborative software development model to commercial application development projects at a more favorable cost over standard outsourcing efforts. A systems integrator with a twist - a collection of end user organizations split the costs (plus profit to Collaborative Software Initiative) of building an application. Although this may seem like a consortium from the outside, it most definitely is a commercial effort, backed by venture funding from OVP Venture Partners. Stuart has assembled a diverse set of advisors, including Brian Behlendorf, Eben Moglen, Dan Frye, and others.

While at the OSDL, Stuart had ambitions to pursue open source activities outside of the organization’s core Linux focus. While he was not able to pursue these activities at the OSDL, the Collaborative Software Initiative is his new outlet for these pursuits.