WASHINGTON, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF
Alliance), a broad cross-section of associations, academic institutions and
industry dedicated to solving the problem of improving access and retrieval
of electronic government documents, today congratulated the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) for its sweeping approval of the
OpenDocument Format as an international standard.
Since its launch in early March, the ODF Alliance has grown to over 150
members worldwide. The Alliance was created to resolve the problem of
governments' and their constituents' limited ability 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). ODF enables the
retrieval of information and exchange of documents without regard to the
application or platform in which the document was created -- both now and
in the future.
"Approval of the OpenDocument Format by ISO marks an important
milestone in the effort to help governments solve the very real problem of
finding a better way to preserve, access and control their documents now
and in the future," said Marino Marcich, Executive Director of the ODF
Alliance. "There's no doubt that this broad vote of support will serve as a
springboard for adoption and use of ODF around the world. At the same time,
it also represents a milestone for the ODF Alliance, which in just weeks
has seen a groundswell of support and continues to grow everyday."
The OpenDocument Format emerged from work done at the open source
OpenOffice.org project. This work was later submitted to, and further
developed at, OASIS, where it was accepted as an official OASIS standard in
May 2005. The six-month approval ballot for its adoption as a standard by
the International Standards Organization and the International
Electrotechnical Commission ended on May 1.
In May 2004, the then European Commission's IDA (Interchange of Data
between Administrations) Management Committee "TAC" had publicly encouraged
OASIS to submit the OASIS ODF standard to ISO once it had completed its
work on the standard. The ODF Alliance believes that approval of ODF by the
ISO standards body as an international standard will thus have a
particularly strong impact in Europe where ISO standards enjoy official
recognition under European Union Directives.
In related news, the ODF Alliance also applauded the "Regional Open ICT
Ecosystem" Conference currently convening in Bangkok. Attended by a number
of Asian governments, this conference (organized by the United Nations'
Asia- Pacific Development Information Programme, and hosted by Thailand's
government) brings together experts, executives, and policy makers from
government, business and academia. Within it, ODF is being discussed as a
vehicle for universally compatible, innovative and cost effective
technology used within governments.
"The examples of the conference taking place right now in Asia and the
positive ISO vote clearly demonstrate the momentum behind the OpenDocument
Format," added Marcich. "The ODF Alliance intends to build on this
successful vote by working with governments around the world to adopt the
OpenDocument Format. We believe access to public records and essential
services should never be restricted to users of a particular brand of
software or computer platform."
For more information about the ODF Alliance, please visit our web site
at http://www.odfalliance.org.
SOURCE ODF Alliance
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Related links:
http://www.odfalliance.org
CONTACT:
Ben Farrell, +1-703-286-0828,
bfarrell@horngroup.com, for the ODF Alliance
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