IDC study: drop in software piracy could bring extra USD 500 mln to Romanian IT industry

A 10 percent drop in software piracy for Romania could lead to the creation of 3,700 new jobs and to additional revenues of USD 498 million for the local IT industry in the next four years, according to a recent study issued by International Data Corporation (IDC). Romania should accelerate the drop of piracy to 2.5 percent a year to enable the country's GDP growth by USD 573 million and bring USD 498 million to the local IT industry, according to the report. Romania posted a piracy rate of 65 percent in 2009, slightly above the 64 percent average in the Central and Eastern Europe. The rate has however dropped from 2003, when it was of 73 percent. The Romanian economy lost USD 183 million last year because of the software piracy. Romania had 46,000 employees in the IT sector in 2009 and the number reached 48,000 this year, with expectations to grow to 64,000 in 2014, according to IDC. There were over 1,600 IT companies in Romania last year and the number is expected to grow to 1,800 in 2014. The local IT market has however shrunk by 18.8 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, reaching USD 1.8 billion. Hardware made more than half of the market, software – 14.9 percent while IT services, 28.2 percent, according to IDC. editor@romania-insider.com