The 'United Nations of standards bodies,' comprised of members from 156 countries, has approved this week an important technical standard that, for the first time in recent memory, offers customers a viable, alternative framework to Microsoft's approach to desktop documents.

The International Standards Organization (ISO), only one of two such bodies recognized by the World Trade Organization for formal, international technical standards, is expected to approve the The Open Document Format (ODF). Developed over the last four years, ODF is being used as the basis for new, universally compatible desktop software from IBM and Sun. (IBM's software is called Workplace, and encompasses much more than just desktop documents.)

Governments, in particular, are interested in ODF because it offers a way for them to archive valuable public records with the certainty that future generations can retrieve and share that same information, irregardless of the computers or software programs that might be in use at that time. Currently, customers face the prospect of paying licensing fees to Microsoft in perpetuity for the privilege of accessing information that they created in the first place, and which may be stored in a format that is not as popular as it now is. With data moving off the desktop onto the Web, and with rise of new computer devices, that concern does not seem far-fetched.

Microsoft has submitted a competing specification, known as OpenXML, to the ECMA standards body, which has intended to then send it to ISO for a vote and ratification. However, OpenXML is only controlled by one company -- Microsoft. And there are questions whether ISO will now consider OpenXML if ODF is already approved as the standard for documents.

The American state of Massachusetts is scheduled to begin using desktop software based on ODF in 2007. Other municipalities seem interested in following suit, such as Norway, which announced on April 7, 2006 that it wants to move away from using proprietary software. On March 27, the U.S. state of Minnesota introduced legislation proposing that the state only use software based on open standards. Governments already using ODF including a Danish province; the Australian Archives; Bristol, UK; and Bloomington, Indiana, US.

In fact, a conference organized by the United Nations and Thai government is bringing southeast Asia countries together this week to discuss practical ways to make ODF part of public policy. The event builds on a roadmap document hammered out last year at Harvard, in which 13 countries linked open technology standards to economic development, efficiency, growth and innovation.

Other grassroots forces are at work throughout the globe. The ODF Alliance, an organization which educates governments about the benefits of using software based on open standards, was launched with 35 members in March 2006, but it already counts nearly 160 members in 32 countries, spanning academia, advocacy groups, vendors and technical organizations.

And on April 17, ODF was highlighted in a report by the U.S. Committee for Economic Development about the link between open standards, open source and innovation. The Committee, which has equivalent counterparts throughout the world, is an independent organization of business and education leaders that makes recommendations for the public and private sectors.

ODF Alliance press release March 3, 2006

Alliance Formed to Promote Improved Access to and Retrieval of Electronic Government Documents ODF Alliance includes diverse industry partners, associations, NGOs and academic/research institutions

(Washington DC -- March 3, 2006) As documents and services are increasingly transformed from paper to electronic form, there is growing recognition that governments and their constituents may not be able to access, retrieve and use critical records, information and documents in the future. A broad cross-section of associations, academic institutions, industry and related groups today joined together to form the OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF Alliance), an organization dedicated to promoting open solutions to this problem.

As technologies rapidly evolve, documents are created by public sector agencies using different applications that may not be compatible with one another today, let alone into the future. Through the use of a truly open standard file format that can be implemented by numerous and varied applications, the Alliance seeks to enable governments and their constituents to use, access and store critical documents, records and information both today and in the future, independent of the applications or enterprise platforms used for their creation or future access.

Specifically, the ODF Alliance supports the use of the OpenDocument Format (ODF), an open XML-based collection of office document formats, including text, presentation and spreadsheet formats. ODF, the only established open standard document format, enables the retrieval of information and exchange of documents between different applications, agencies and/or business partners in a platform and application independent way.

'With a broad cross section of support, the ODF Alliance will work to enable governments around the world to have greater control over and direct management of their documents, now and forever,' said Ken Wasch, President of the Software Information Industry Association, a leading member of the Alliance and the principal trade association of the software and digital content industry. 'There's no doubt that the momentum of ODF is gaining traction worldwide as more people every day are discovering that it's a better way to preserve and access documents.'

The ODF Alliance was formed by a diverse coalition of more than 35 organizations from a wide range of countries around the world. The Alliance membership includes: Adullact Association; American Library Association; Ark Linux; The Association of Open Source Suppliers and Vendors in Denmark; Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (India); Cognitran Ltd; Corel Corporation; CSW Group Ltd; EDS; EMC Corporation; Friends of OpenDocument, Inc.; GENICORP; Indian Institute of Technology (IIT); Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the City of Vienna; IBM; Information Program, Open Society Institute; International Open Source Network; Justsystem Corporation; Massachusetts High Tech Council; Massachusetts Network Communications Council; Novell; Open Society Archives of the Central European University (OSA Archivum); OpenForum Europe; OpenDocument Fellowship; The OpenDocument Foundation, Inc.; OpenOffice.org; Opera Software; Optaros, Inc.; Oracle Corporation; OSS Alliance; Propylon Ltd; Red Hat, Inc.; Software Information Industry Association; Sun Microsystems; the Technical University of Denmark and tarent GmbH. More information about the Alliance is available on the Alliance webs site at: http://www.odfalliance.org

The Alliance is building support globally for use and recognition of ODF, and all organizations that share its goals are welcomed to join the effort. Organizations can join by visiting the Alliance web site at: http://www.odfalliance.org/join.asp

In recent months, jurisdictions such as the State of Massachusetts in the United States and others around the world are leading the way, by embracing open document formats. According to recent press reports, 13 nations globally are considering adoption of the OpenDocument format.

ODF Backgrounder

Mission

As documents and services are increasingly transformed from paper to electronic form, there is a growing problem that government agencies and their constituents may not be able to access, retrieve and use critical records, information and documents in the future. To enable the public sector to have greater control over and direct management of their own records, information and documents, the ODF Alliance seeks to promote and advance the use of OpenDocument Format (ODF).

The alliance is working globally to educate policymakers, IT administrators and the public on the benefits and opportunities of the OpenDocument Format, to help ensure that government information, records and documents are accessible across platforms and as technologies change both today and in the future. To accomplish this mission, the Alliance’s will:

Advocate adoption and implementation of public sector policies that embrace ODF.
Document and disseminate the benefits of ODF adoption and the value of open standards for the public sector

Promote and maintain a repository of ODF use cases and resources.

Membership

Alliance membership is open to participation from all companies, interest groups, academic institutions, government entities and any other organizations that support the Alliance’s mission and objectives.

Initial members include, but are not limited to, Corel, IBM Corporation, Novell, OpenForum Europe, Oracle, Red Hat, Inc., the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) and Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Alliance Status

The Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) is currently leading the effort to formally launch the Alliance with the guidance of the initial sponsoring companies. We are hopeful to formally announce the Alliance in the coming weeks.

Why OpenDocument Format?

In today’s digital economy, the vast majority of technology users do not have sufficient control of their own documents now and into the future. OpenDocument Format addresses these issues by standardizing the file formats so that anyone can use them and anyone can implement them on any platform at any time.

Using open standards like ODF ensures that the users’ information is accessible across platforms and as technologies change. Organizations and individuals that store their data in an open format avoid being locked in to a single software vendor, leaving them free to switch software if their current vendor goes out of business, raises its prices, changes its software, or changes its licensing terms to something less favorable for the user. Adoption of open standards is particularly important for governmental applications because it can effectively ensure that a government document saved today will not be technologically locked tomorrow.

Control As a fully open standard, ODF provides users with control by ensuring that documents are usable in the future by anyone, at any time.

Choice By providing complete interoperability among office suites, ODF provides consumers with greater choice due to competition among vendors, including both proprietary and open source applications.

Innovation By providing the standardized basis for interoperable document formats, ODF promotes innovation in the current stagnant market for office applications.

What is OpenDocument Format, and Where Can I find out more?

The OpenDocument format is an open XML-based document file format for saving and exchanging editable office documents (including memos, reports, and books), spreadsheets, charts, and presentations. OpenDocument was developed as an application-independent format by a vendor-neutral OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) Technical Committee with the participation of multiple office application vendors. In addition, OpenDocument was submitted to the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) on 30 September 2005 for ratification. This process is presently ongoing.

OpenDocument is a genuine vendor-neutral, open standard specification free from intellectual property encumbrances. All developers are free to work with it. In fact, OpenDocument is the only standard for editable office documents that has been vetted by an independent recognized standards body, has been implemented by multiple vendors, and can be implemented by any supplier (including proprietary software vendors as well as developers using open source software licenses such as the GNU LGPL or GNU GPL).

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Country Votes on ODF

Even though the International Standards Organization (ISO) is a non governmental organization, it can be thought of as a kind of 'United Nations of standards bodies,' in that wields tremendous influences, and brings together 156 members, comprised of both private industry delegates, as well as those from government- appointed or mandated standards organizations. It is only one of two such bodies recognized by the World Trade Organization for formal, international technical standards.

National standards bodies from around the world voted in favor of ODF and it was ratified by ISO on May 1. Here are some of the member countries that voted in favor of ODF:

Here is a partial list of ISO member countries who have voted in favor of ODF:

1. U.S.
2. UK
3. Hungary
4. China
5. Japan
6. Netherlands
7. Italy
8. Norway
9. Germany
10. Israel
11.Canada
12. Malaysia
13. New Zealand
14. Romania
15. Ireland
16. Sweden
17. Korea
18. Sri Lanka
19. France
20. Finland
21. Australia
22. India
23. Poland
24. Belgium