Indonesia should be able to create 2,200 new jobs, generate an additional US$1.8 billion in economic growth and gain $88 million more in tax revenue by reducing software piracy by 10 percent by 2011, a study says.
International Data Corporation (IDC), which conducted the study, is a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services for players in the information technology market.
"Of the estimated additional growth, about $1 billion should go to local vendors and software maintenance services," said Roland Chan, a director at the Business Software Alliance (BSA), which commissioned the study.
The study also shows that a 10 percent reduction in piracy could boost the country's information technology spending growth from 9.5 percent to 13.6 percent annually and IT employment growth could rise from 8.2 percent to 9.6 percent.
Last year IDC reported that Indonesia reduced its software piracy rate by 2 percent from 87 percent of all software applications used in 2003 to 85 percent in 2006.
The country ranked as the third worst offender of software piracy in the Asia-Pacific region after Vietnam with 88 percent and Pakistan with 86 percent, and slightly above China with 82 percent.
According to BSA, in 2006 the software industry suffered a total loss of about $350 million due to software piracy.
The study, which covered 42 countries all over the globe, says that the software industry employs 4.3 million highly skilled workers.
If the rate of piracy dropped by 10 percent by 2011, the study argues those countries should see a total of 600,000 new jobs, $141 billion in additional revenue and $24 billion in new taxes.
Ansori Sinungan, director of intellectual copyright at the ministry of law and human rights, said that to promote the use of legal software, the government has urged consumers to shift to open-source software instead of depending on pirated software.
The government has also been promoting the Indonesia Go Open Source (IGOS) since 2005 in support of local software producers.
Harry Surjanto, president director of PT Computrade Technology Indonesia, said that the growth of open-source support services was growing every year.
"The number of customers using Red Hat operating systems, for example, doubled in 2007," he said.
Ansori said some ministers, including the coordinating minister for politics, legal and security affairs, were preparing to establish a national team for combating piracy. (ind)
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