'1 p.c. rise in licensed s/w use means $739 mn boost to India'

Image courtesy: www.microsoft.com

A new study by BSA finds that licensed software delivers over twice the economic benefit of pirated software to the country

News | by CIOL Bureau

BANGALORE, INDIA: Believe it or not, increased usage of properly licensed software rather than pirated ones would have a greater impact on the economy in India. Thus asserts a new study from BSA-The Software Alliance and INSEAD, one of the world's leading business schools.

A 1 per cent increase in use of licensed software would generate almost $1.3 billion in national production, compared to $554 million from a similar increase in pirated software - meaning properly licensed software would deliver $739 million in additional economic value, said an official statement.

The Economic Impact of Properly Licensed Software is a groundbreaking analysis that draws on data from 95 economies - of which 15 are from the Asia-Pacific - to demonstrate the benefits to national economies of using fully licensed software. It confirms that increasing use of licensed software corresponds to substantial positive gains in gross domestic product (GDP), and that the economic stimulus effect of properly licensed software is significantly greater than that of pirated software.

"Using properly licensed software reduces risk and creates operating efficiencies that go directly to the bottomline for enterprises," said Yolynd Lobo, BSA director, India.

"This study confirms that licensed software is not just good for firms, it is an important driver of national economic growth. Government, law enforcement, and industry in India should take every opportunity to reap these potential gains by reducing piracy and promoting use of properly licensed software."

The study also finds that each additional dollar invested in properly licensed software has an estimated return on investment (ROI) of $75. This compares to a $19 return from each additional dollar worth of pirated software put into use.

Among the study's other findings are:

• Increasing the amount of licensed software used in the Asia-Pacific by 1 per cent would add $18.7 billion to the regional economy, compared to $6 billion from pirated software, meaning a $12.7 billion difference

• Increasing licensed software use globally by 1 per cent would inject an estimated $73 billion into the world economy, compared to $20 billion from pirated software - a difference of $53 billion

• Every economy included in the study saw greater economic returns from properly licensed software than from pirated software

• On a dollar-for-dollar basis, the return on investment from using properly licensed software is greatest in developing economies - $437 in extra GDP, on average. Still, economies across all income levels benefit: each additional dollar invested in licensed software has an average ROI of $117 in high-income economies and $140 in middle-income economies

"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," said Eduardo Rodriguez-Montemayor, senior research fellow at INSEAD eLab.

"The results make it clear that licensed software is beneficial for business and national economies - and that licensed software has a greater economic impact than pirated software across all economies included in the study."

It recommends that governments and enterprises wanting to embrace the economic opportunity presented by licensed software use should take action in the following areas:

• Establish strong and modern intellectual property laws that protect software and other copyrighted materials on PCs, mobile devices, and in the cloud

• Step up enforcement of intellectual property rights with dedicated resources

• Raise public awareness about the risks of software piracy

• Lead by example by using only fully licensed software and implementing software asset management programs. A full copy of the study: Competitive Advantage: The Economic Impact of Properly Licensed Software is available for download on BSA's website: www.bsa.org/softwarevalue.