The increased use of legally licensed software will lead to higher economic growth, a study from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) revealed yesterday (Tuesday).
Titled “Competitive Advantage: The Economic Impact of Properly Licensed Software”, the published report was compiled based on information gathered from 95 countries with the focus on economic benefit as influences by proper licensed software.
The findings estimate a ZAR2 billion (US$245 million) increase in national production for every one percent increase in distribution of licensed software.
Additional economic value of ZAR1 billion (US$123 million) is calculated.
Apart from the financial benefits, reduced risk and more efficient corporate functionality is also on the table.
Marius Haman, chairman of BSA South Africa, said: “Using properly licensed software reduces risk and creates operating efficiencies that go.”
Haman explained the advantages of fully licensed software are not only “an important driver of national economic growth”.
Cross-field benefit is to be gained from governmental and law enforcement areas to industries nationwide.
“South Africa should take every opportunity to reap these potential gains by reducing piracy and promoting use of properly licensed software,” Haman said.
Legal software investments also prove to be profitable with an approximate return of investment (ROI) of nearly ZAR200 (US$21).
The global effect will also have significant positive results, promising a US$73 million world economic boost with a one per cent increase of licensed software use.
In comparison with the US$20 million revenue from pirate software, an amount of US$53 million extra income is predicted.
Eduardo Rodriguez-Montemayor, senior research fellow at INSEAD eLab, said: “Previous studies have shown that value-added services delivered with properly licensed software help firms to reduce costs and increase their productivity.
“This report goes one step further to ascertain the impact of software use on national production.”
Governments are encouraged to establish strong intellectual property (IP) laws, raise public awareness and lead by example with regards to legal software use.
HumanIPO reported last month on Microsoft’s appeal to use legal software.
