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OASIS submits OpenDocument as standard

The group behind the OpenDocument document format seeks broader government appeal through ISO standardization.

Martin LaMonica Former Staff writer, CNET News
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer covering green tech and cutting-edge technologies. He joined CNET in 2002 to cover enterprise IT and Web development and was previously executive editor of IT publication InfoWorld.
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Martin LaMonica
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The group behind the OpenDocument standard has submitted the document format to a key standards organization, a move that could make open-source desktop applications more attractive to governments.

OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, said it has submitted the standard to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). OpenDocument is a set of document formats for storing desktop applications, including word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software.

The first version of the standard was ratified earlier this year by OASIS and is used by the OpenOffice open-source product suite.

Late last month, OASIS said it had submitted the OpenDocument specification to the Electrotechnical Commission's Joint Technical Committee at ISO (ISO/IEC JTC1) for approval as a standard. OpenDocument will continue to be developed and maintained within OASIS, but the group is seeking the ISO standardization to make the document formats more accessible, according to an OASIS representative.

"We believe OpenDocument's approval by ISO/IEC JTC1?will serve as a gratifying endorsement, making OpenDocument even more accessible to adopters--particularly those implementing business solutions for governments--who look to ISO for assurance of long-term viability," said OASIS representative Carol Geyer.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts last month announced that it had chosen OpenDocument as the standard document format for state agencies in the executive branch. Other state and national governments are considering moving to OpenDocument-based products, according to an IBM representative.

Sun Microsystems' StarOffice suite, which is based on OpenOffice, supports OpenDocument. Microsoft's dominant Office System product line, meanwhile, does not support OpenDocument natively.