Open World Forum: Open source is a proven engine for economic growth

The Open World Forum has been held annually in Paris for the last five years, in part because of the regional government's decision to invest in open source. The man responsible for that allocation is the deputy mayor of Paris, Jean-Louis Missika; it was especially appropriate for him to break the news of how open source has benefited the city. Using data from a PwC survey of 27 international cities known for their business power, Missika reported that Paris is second only to Beijing in economic strength...

...open source contributes as much as 450 billion euros (around $580 billion) to Europe's economy each year, according to new research published recently in Brussels. This follows news of the importance of open source to the U.S. economy, discussed in an O'Reilly report this summer. By freeing software for reuse without strings attached, startups are given easy access to the shoulders of giants.

We're steadily seeing evidence build of the importance of open resources: open source, open data, open research. They each unleash power by removing the need to ask permission before innovating, repurposing, and generally improving the economy by unfettered use of shared resources.