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UAE government playing key role
A 10 percentage point drop in PC software piracy rate in the UAE not only impacts the performance and economic contributions of the overall software industry, but also ripples outward into the IT services and distribution sectors.
- By Naushad K. Cherrayil, Senior Sub-Editor
- Published: 01:15 February 21, 2008
Dubai: A 10 percentage point drop in PC software piracy rate in the UAE not only impacts the performance and economic contributions of the overall software industry, but also ripples outward into the IT services and distribution sectors.
The benefits of cutting the piracy rate from 35 per cent to 25 per cent would create an additional 710 new jobs, $40 million in tax revenues and $238 million to the UAE's economy, according to the latest report by research firm IDC.
"The UAE government is definitely playing a key role in bringing piracy rate down and what we are aiming to do is slowly but surely lower the piracy rate further so that the economy will flourish, says Jawad Al Redha, co-chairman of the Business Software Alliance (BSA).
He says the UAE model is a good example for the other Arab countries and this is the 11th year in which the country is ranked lowest in the region.
He says this incremental boost to the economy would add highly skilled jobs to the labour force, support the creation of new companies, and fund public services.
Because most of the benefits accrue to services and channel firms, most of the benefits from lowering piracy stay within the country. For an economy the size of UAE, even this small increment of IT-related employment would have an impact.
Mohammad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Shihhi, Undersecretary - Planning Sector, Ministry of Economy, says: "Our concerted efforts in combating piracy have delivered significant positive results to the economy, particularly the sustained growth of the IT sector.
"The Ministry of Economy agrees with the report published by BSA and IDC pointing out the critical importance of further lowering the UAE's piracy rate, which will be a significant step towards achieving sustainable levels of development in the future."
Lowering the PC software piracy rate delivers such benefits because other sectors derive revenue from working with, installing, servicing and reselling software.
Al Redha says there will be more changes in the laws among the Arab countries since the technology is growing day by day.
He urged the public and private sectors to cooperate further and conduct joint campaigns to eradicate piracy.
Al Redha is confident that the UAE will figure among the top 20 in the low piracy list this year.
Asked if BSA targets a zero piracy rate, Al Redha says such a level is not easy to reach and was satisfied with the regional governments' enforcement.
He says BSA is pleased with the efforts by regional governments, legislators and enforcement agencies, but they still have a long way to go.
"The use of the internet has spread wide, providing more opportunities for software pirates to use high-tech solutions. Despite that, piracy levels have come down in the region, which indicates the success of measures adopted by BSA and government authorities."
IDC estimates that if software piracy rates were reduced by just 10 percentage points in the Middle East, the region as a whole could see the ICT sector grow substantially more than 64 per cent; $3.44 billion additional industry revenues; 24,000 additional jobs; and nearly $600 million in additional tax revenue in the region over four years - these statistics are over and above the existing revenue, employment and tax contributions and those that will result from the healthy growth of the industry already expected by 2011.
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