[A2k] European Commission study: Free Software is key for ICT competitiveness

[Karsten Gerloff]

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Dear all,

the European Commission has just released a very thorough study of the
effects of Free Software on European ICT competitiveness. It was led and
coordinated by UNU-MERIT's Rishab Aiyer Ghosh. Please find the PR below.


The full study report is available here (.pdf, 1.8 MB):

<http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/doc/2006-11-20-flossimpact.pdf>

best,
Karsten

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION STUDY: FLOSS IS KEY FOR ICT COMPETITIVENESS

The European Commission has released a study about the economic
impact of Free/Libre or Open Source Software (FLOSS) on the
European ICT sector. It was prepared by a consortium of research
institutions led by UNU-MERIT's Rishab Aiyer Ghosh.

Looking at the impact of FLOSS on European competitiveness in
ICTs, the study finds that such software is of great importance to
the digital industry in Europe and several other parts of the
world. It has already reached considerable market share in several
fields, including web servers and operating systems. A large share
of public and private sector organisations use at least some
FLOSS.

Findings include:

x=09FLOSS applications are top rung products in terms of market
share in several markets.

x =09The existing base of quality FLOSS applications with
reasonable quality control and distribution would cost firms
almost Euro 12 billion to reproduce internally. This code base has
been doubling every 18-24 months over the past eight years.

x =09The notional value of Europe=E2=80=99s investment in FLOSS software
today is Euro 22 billion (36 billion in the US) representing 20.5%
of total software investment (20% in the US)

x=09While the US has an edge in large FLOSS-related businesses,
Europe is the leading region in terms of globally active FLOSS
software developers, and leads in terms of global project leaders,
followed closely by North America. Asia and Latin America face
disadvantages at least partly due to language barriers, but may
have an increasing share of developers active in local
communities.

x=09By providing a skills development environment valued by
employers and retaining a greater share of value addition locally,
FLOSS can encourage the creation of SMEs and jobs.

x=09Defined broadly, FLOSS-related services could reach a 32%
share of all IT services by 2010, and the FLOSS-related share of
the economy could reach 4% of European GDP by 2010.

x=09Though FLOSS provides ample opportunities for Europe, it is
threatened by increasing moves in some policy circles to support
regulation that seeks to protect old business models of creative
industries, making it harder to develop new ways of doing
business.

The study, which also provides policy recommendations, was
commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate General for
Enterprise and Industry. The views expressed in the study are
those of its authors and do not necessarily represent the views of
the European Commission. The full study, including a short
executive summary, can be downloaded from the official website of
the European Commission at:

http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/doc/2006-11-20-flossimpact.pdf
(.pdf, 1.8 MB).

For more information please contact Rishab Ghosh at UNU-MERIT:
rishab.flossimpact@dxm.org, +31 6 29 07 44 87, or Philippe Aigrain
at Sopinspace, Society for Public Information Spaces:
phaigrain.flossimpact@sopinspace.com, +33 6 85 80 19 31

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UNU-MERIT =09=09   =09 <http://www.merit.unu.edu>
Researcher=09=09Free Software & Access to Knowledge
Tel. +31 (0) 3506 378=09 //=09Keizer Karelplein 19
6211 TC Maastricht =09//=09The Netherlands
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