A census of the Australian Open Source community and industry was conducted late last year by Waugh Partners.
The report has now been published. It's a good read. Not overly long, and beautifully illustrated with graphs to aid in interpreting the data. Congratulations to Pia and Jeff for putting this together. And gratitude for doing a job that really needed doing. Download the report here: http://census.waughpartners.com.au/census-report-2008-r1.pdf Summary Points: |Introduction| In our interaction with business, government, education and the Open Source industry, we have found a sharp disconnect between the perceptions held by the market, and the reality of Open Source in Australia. We knew that our country has produced some of the world's most influential Open Source innovators and projects. We knew that clever, home-grown Open Source companies were succeeding in local and export markets. But we didn't have the numbers. Until now. The Australian Open Source Industry & Community Report delivers those numbers, to encourage an informed conversation about the potential for Open Source in Australia. |Industry| Our conservative projection of earnings suggests that the Open Source industry generates $500 million in revenue each year, with over 50% of that being directly related to Open Source. |Community| The Australian Open Source community is more diverse than the stereotypical young, single, student programmer. |Education & Skills| The most valuable Open Source skills are forged outside the classroom, in the hands-on lessons of open, collaborative development and practical, commercial experience. The industry and community are very much aware of this, but most of our formal educational institutions have some homework to do. |Careers & Employment| Community respondents are mostly full-time employed ICT professionals, many of whom found Open Source work and skills through their participation in the community... However, some are not involved in ICT at all. |Innovation| The Australian industry and community constitutes a powerhouse of innovation and Open Source world leadership. |The Market| The Australian market for Open Source is very strong in both the private and public sectors, and rapidly growing. |Business Development| Open Source solutions and innovation provide numerous business development and export opportunities for Australia and our ICT sector, but more must be done to harness our existing skills base and potential. |Opinion| Industry and community respondents were asked, "What do you feel are the major impediments facing increased adoption of Open Source in Australia?" Their answers focused on market knowledge and perception, leadership of industry and government, and Australia's relatively slow adoption of new ICT solutions. FYI. _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List http://lists.linux.org.ph/mailman/listinfo/plug Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
