Now is a good time to change attitudes

The projection from the TDRI seems promising, but if we take into account the piracy rate in the country, you will be surprised how far the software industry could have gone and how much more of an economic impact it could have contributed. 

If the recent news about law enforcement over unauthorised usage of Bt300 Thai-English dictionary software provoked the reaction “what’s the big deal?”, then this might be the time to rethink the value of the so-called ‘intangible’ market, how big it actually is as an industry, and arguably most importantly, how it actually concerns Thai people? 

From my experience, it has always been the case that people in the industry are always evolving, but to a certain extent they are doing so with some kind of uncertainty about the future. Software developers – or application developers as they called these days – can be a great career choice, but the persistent problem of piracy can be a problem and a deterrent to new talent. 

More and more people are starting to appreciate the nature of the services and products that, though unseen, provide real value and are the result of development costs. People are getting used to the idea that they will have to pay for what they use. 

Developers can keep on developing. But I will not argue with the view that there is more to be done in terms of education to move the industry and the country forward. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be questioning whether that Bt300 software is something we really have to pay for.

The TDRI projected the growth rate for the Thai software industry this year to be Bt49.56 billion, increasing 8.6 per cent from 2013. That is a promising figure in itself, but compared with forecast gross domestic product at only 1.5 per cent, it is even more impressive. 

Thailand is not a small playground anymore, and this is where the software industry really has a chance to grow and help drive the economy. The industry’s growth rate is getting better every year thanks to the easier access to genuine software through various platforms, one of them being Microsoft, of course. 

It is time for us to really think about software in a different way. Use this opportunity to look at it as something people invested time in developing, something that could make your life better, something that you pay for in return – and something that will keep driving the economy forward.

 

Matteo Mille is senior director for Intellectual Property Rights at Microsoft Asia Pacific.