About 32 percent of all IT services in the European Union will be related to free software in 2010. That is one of the conclusions of a study published on Friday by the European Commission. Using open source software can save industry 36 percent of R&D investments.
The study was carried out by several European universities, led by UNU-MERIT, a joint research and training centre of United Nations University and Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
If free software, with reasonable quality control and distribution, currently in use in Europe had to be developed in a proprietary fashion, it would have cost 12 billion euros, the researchers estimate.
They see free and open source software as a chance to reach Europe's political aims to make it the most competitive knowledge economy by 2010. "By providing a skills development environment valued by employers and retaining a greater share of value addition locally, it can encourage the creation of small and medium sized enterprises and jobs."
According to the report Europe historically has a lower ability to create new software business when compared to the United States. This is due to restricted venture capital and risk tolerance. Floss presents Europe with a unique opportunity to right this.
Researchers think that doubling the amount of investment spent on Floss will result in 0.1 percent increase of annual GPD growth in the European Union, or more than 10 billion euros per year. And that is excluding the benefits within the IT industry itself.
The consortium of universities and research institutes advises to correct policies that favour propietary software. Policy makers for example could decide to provide equitable tax treatment for Floss developers. "Their contributions should be treated as charitable donations for tax purposes."
© European Communities 2007
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