MARCH 5 2015 (The Bulletin) – After years of pirating software, Georgia’s government signed a deal with Microsoft to officially licence its operating system and other products, signalling its desire to promote its IT sector.
According to a 2013 study by the Business Software Alliance, a US-based industry lobby group, Georgia had the highest global software piracy rate. Around 90% of all the software installed in the country was unlicensed, including the government’s software.
Giga Paitchadze, IT expert and well known blogger, said this was a step towards professionalising Georgia’s image.
“Using licensed software on a state level will have a spill over effect on Georgian society, it will be a soft recommendation to respect other people’s work,” he said. “Just as our own intellectual property, patents, and products, need to be protected around the world as well.”
The license agreement is expected to have a positive effect on the Georgian IT sector. In the past few years, IT has been a major focus point of both the current and the previous government to be more competitive globally.
The government has estimated that the deal with Microsoft will cost around $8m to buy all state agencies with the latest versions of Microsoft’s operating systems.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 222, published on March 11 2015)