The significance of open-source software in tech innovation lies in its collaborative nature and community-driven development. Open-source projects allow developers from various backgrounds to contribute, leading to faster problem-solving and feature enhancements. This approach fosters transparency, as users can inspect and modify source code, promoting trust and security. Open-source software reduces costs, as organizations can utilize existing solutions without hefty licensing fees while encouraging experimentations and new ideas to flourish. This ecosystem has resulted in numerous widely-used tools and technologies, such as Linux and Apache, revolutionizing the tech landscape.