International Open Source Network Joins Alliance to Promote OpenDocument Format

The alliance works globally to educate policy makers, 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 applications, even as technologies change. The alliance was launched on 3 March 2006 with more than 35 initial members. The International Open Source Network (IOSN), an initiative of APDIP, joins this alliance.

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 from different countries 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.

The ODF Alliance was formed by a diverse coalition of more than 35 organizations from a wide range of countries around the world. The International Open Source Network (IOSN), a Centre of Excellence for Free/Open Source Software (FOSS), Open Content and Open Standards in the Asia-Pacific region, joins this Alliance.

IOSN is an initiative of UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme and supported by the International Development Research Centre of Canada.

Related Links

ODF Alliance Website

ODF Alliance Members

Press Release

FAQs about the ODF Alliance

International Open Source Network

e-Primers on Free/Open Source Software

Roadmap for Open ICT Ecosystem

APDIP e-Note 18 - Standards for Electronic Documents

APDIP e-Note 7 - Open Technologies: Catalyst for Transformation

Last modified 2007-08-01 03:25 PM