🔓Value worth 8.8 Trillion that we take for granted

Harvard published a study in 2024 on value of Open Source Software

The researchers use two valuation approaches - supply-side and demand-side analysis to quantify the economic value of widely-used open source software.

The supply-side value of widely-used OSS is estimated at $4.15 billion but the demand-side value is much larger at $8.8 trillion

Companies would need to spend 3.5 times more on software than they currently do if OSS did not exist

96% of the demand-side value is created by only 5% of OSS developers, the value distribution is extremely disproportionate.

If a country increased its Open source contribution by 1%, it results in 0.4% more startups.

It highlights massive hidden economic value of open source software, demonstrating that while OSS appears "free," its economic impact is enormous

OSS is critical piece of digital infrastructure, it should be treated as public infrastructure and governments should invest in it like they do in other infrastructures.