Last August I wrote about how Mexico has quietly become one of the world’s leaders in protecting and safeguarding intellectual property. In doing so, Mexico is putting the foundation in place for long-term economic growth and prosperity. And there’s a lot that every government and company can learn from Mexico’s example.
Today, Mexico is the 12th largest economy in the world. As it continues to diversify and solidify its place as a global economic powerhouse, Mexico has clearly seen the benefits of protecting IP through software asset management. Just last week, BSA announced that the Ministry of Economy in Mexico has become the first government body in the world to earn BSA’s “CSS(O)” certification for standards-based software asset management for organizations. CSS(O) is the first and only enterprise-level certification program that affirms an organization is compliant with all of its license agreements and that its management controls and procedures reflect the International Organization for Standardization standard. By becoming the first national government agency to become CSS(O)-certified, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy is demonstrating by example that SAM is not only smart, but also achievable.
What Mexico’s leaders have realized is that the benefits of effective software management, and CSS(O) certification, in particular, are manifold. They include:
- Better alignment of software assets with operational needs;
- Optimization of licensing costs and eliminating waste;
- The ability to maintain and easily prove license compliance;
- Avoidance of unnecessary legal, financial and security risks; and
- Improved business performance.
It’s not just individual companies who win with more effective SAM; entire countries and economies do, too. The Annual BSA Global Software Piracy Study finds, for instance, that in Mexico the commercial value of pirated software is over $1.2 billion. Reducing piracy by just ten points in Mexico would result in nearly 6,200 additional jobs and add $3,124 million to the economy.
It is a credit to the vision of Mexico’s leadership that it continues to broaden and deepen its IP protection efforts. My hope is that other countries and private companies will follow Mexico’s lead.
