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UK government in favor of adopting the OpenDocument format

31/01/2014
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The UK government has indicated that it wants Open Document Format (ODF), the competitor of Office Open XML (OOXML) developed by Microsoft, to be the standard for its editable electronic documents.

During the Sprint 14 conference, Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude explained that “the adoption of open standards in government threatens the power of lock-in to propriety vendors yet it will give departments the power to choose what is right for them and the citizens who use their services”, reported Joinup. The adoption of the OpenDocument format should facilitate exchange and collaboration between the government and citizens, businesses and public administrations.

The announcement comes following the public consultation launched on the 4th December on the UK government website, which ended on the 15th January.

It is currently only a proposal, open to debate until the 26th February. The final decision will be in the hands of the government’s Chief Technology Officer.

During the conference, Francis Maude also indicated a desire to strengthen the government's strategy relating to the openness of IT solutions, initiated in 2011.

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