Let the ODF Revolution Begin

Two centuries ago, Massachusetts was the place where American colonists launched their bid for independence from a closed, absolute monarchy. In 2004, Massachusetts launched a second revolution against tyranny by declaring that it would no longer be beholden to proprietary software that trapped its documents and information in unusable formats. Instead, it embraced the OpenDocument Forum (ODF) for conducting and archiving official state business.

Since the Bay State made that bold move, scores of governments and public agencies around the world have declared their independence as well. Adopting an open standard for creating documents--memos, reports, spreadsheets, presentations--ensures information will be available in perpetuity and without the expensive licensing fees for obsolete software.

ODF is an open, XML-based document-file format for saving and exchanging documents that can be edited. It was developed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), a standards body that was recently endorsed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The main benefit of ODF is that it assures content will always be available to the people who create it and to those with whom they share it. It ensures that the information is readily accessible because it uses standards that are published and open, unlike formats that become "locked up," unable to be opened by later versions of software products from the same vendor, or software from competing vendors.

Massachusetts isn't alone in its thinking. The World Bank has urged countries to adopt open IT standards as a means to accelerate economic growth, efficiency and innovation. More recently, Washington policymakers and technology advocates have started debating the open-standards issue.

The Software and Information Industry Association recently announced that 30 companies, trade groups, academic institutions and professional organizations were forming the OpenDocument Format Alliance to promote government adoption of open technology standards. The membership quickly swelled to 300 members in 43 countries.

More governmental agencies are seeing the advantages of open-document formats. According to Gartner, by 2010, ODF will be required by 50 percent of government and 20 percent of commercial organizations. Countries that are requiring or seriously considering ODF include Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Denmark, Norway, Malaysia, India, Brazil, Hong Kong and Thailand. Last March, legislation was introduced in Minnesota that would require the use of software based on open standards.

ODF offers economic advantages to cash-strapped states. Why should taxpayers carry the burden for products their governments aren't using? Microsoft has created an annuity stream for itself: About 80 percent of existing Microsoft Office clients use only 20 percent of the Office applications. ODF allows governments to pay only for what they use. Money saved could be used to make states more competitive and better places to live and work.

When governments operate at their most efficient and effective levels, the resulting lower costs benefit their constituents. We shouldn't need a proprietary tool to view a shared document, and based on some of the tools currently being used, we may risk losing the ability to read those documents within a decade. If we can't turn all of this information into knowledge, what's the point of storing it?

Almost every day, we read news stories about open source and open standards, and many of the advances being made in emerging countries. When you don't have an existing infrastructure, you can afford to "skip" a technology--just as the Chinese embraced cellphones at a faster pace than Americans. Furthermore, when a standard is established, companies no longer have to worry about whether their products are compatible with one another, and can focus more on building innovative products.

With ODF, the age of closed standards and locked documents is coming to an end.

Ian Altman is president of ITM Associates, a Rockville, Md.-based solution provider.