Latest News

ISO/IEC DIS 29500 receives necessary votes for approval as an International Standard

Office Open XML file formats, has received the necessary number of votes for approval as an ISO/IEC International Standard. ISO/IEC 29500 is a standard for word-processing documents, presentations and spreadsheets that is intended to be implemented by multiple applications on multiple platforms. The issues addressed and revised have resulted in sufficient national bodies withdrawing their earlier disapproval votes, or transforming them into positive votes, so that the criteria for approval of the document as an International Standard have now been met.

Read the ISO Press Release

New Case Studies Added Highlighting Benefits of Open XML

Case Studies from EMC Document Sciences (US), Quickoffice (US), IntelliSafe Technologies (US), Biblioteca Ambrosiana (Italy), Ipsos Szonda (Hungary), and FUJISOFT (Japan) were recently added showcasing how these organizations from all over the world have benefitted from using Open XML.

Read the Case Studies

Finally! INCITS Finalizes U.S. 'Yes' Vote on Open XML Standards Bid

After several rounds of voting and internal debate, the committee that represents U.S. interests on technology issues within the ISO standards body reaffirmed on Tuesday its support for approving Microsoft Corp's Office Open XML document format as an open standard, according to sources close to the process.

Read the Computerworld Article

I.R.I.S. Announces Cooperation with Microsoft

Belgium-based company I.R.I.S. Group published a press release today announcing cooperation with Microsoft that will result in Open XML being supported as an input and output format in the I.R.I.S. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and document compression server.

Read the Press Release

An Open Letter from Chris Capossela, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Office

Chris Capossela, Senior Vice President of Microsoft Office, published an open letter offering his perspective on the rationale behind standardization for Open XML, the benefits afforded to the broader industry that is actively implementing the current Ecma specification, and Microsoft's commitment to support the enhancements made to the current ISO specification under review.

Read Chris Capossela's Letter

Open XML Solutions from Imasoft A/C and Sklenar

Two new case studies have been added that showcase two software development companies who have benefited from utilizing Ecma Office Open XML Format based solutions for their customers. Imasoft A/C from Denmark created CrimeSceneNet, a product that creates 3D digital representations of crime scenes for law enforcement and Austrian based Sklenar created a text automation solution called TDIWiz, that allows you to easily and efficiently personalize documents.

Read Case Studies

Competitiveness and Innovation on the Committee's 50th Anniversary with Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft

Bill Gates testified at the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology's 50th Anniversary Hearing on Competitiveness and Innovation. Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, discussed our nation's technological advances over the past 50 years, the current state of our competitiveness, and a look ahead to the challenges we face. In addition, Congressman Brian Baird asked a question about Open XML and in his response, Gates highlighted the importance of standards and noted that Open XML as an ISO standard will offer many benefits.

Watch and Read the Webcast

Microsoft Releasing OOXML SDK

Microsoft plans to release the final beta of the Office Open XML Software Development Kit (SDK) next month, and release version 1.0 in May. The SDK will enable developers to write applications that can open, read, and otherwise work with OOXML documents, or port existing applications that work with documents in older Microsoft formats over to OOXML.

Read the Computerworld Article

U.S. Expected to Recommend Open XML as ISO Standard

The United States is expected to recommend that Microsoft's Open XML file formats be ratified as an international standard, according to people involved in the process. Two members of the technical committee tasked with setting the national position on a pivotal vote said the United States will retain its "Approve" position in a vote to make Open XML a standard at the International Organization for Standards (ISO).

Read the CNET News Blog

Intergen Launches New Open XML Web Application

On Thursday, at MIX08, New Zealand based software company, Intergen, announced a new product called TextGlow that combines Office Open XML and Silverlight technology to make documents viewable via a Web browser. Users will be able to view Open XML documents without having to download the files, a first of its kind, according to Intergen.

Read the Computerworld Article

ISO officials, others dispute claims that Open XML meeting was flawed

Today, Computerworld article reported the reactions to an assertion raised that last week’s ballot resolution meeting (BRM) was flawed. Alex Brown, BRM convener, defended the decisions he made and indicated that the voting procedures were "discussed in minute detail" before the meeting, in consultation with ISO's Information Technology Task Force. ISO’s press office added that the meeting "followed the orderly and inclusive process" set out by the organization, and that JTC 1 "is one of the most experienced and productive" of its technical committees.

Read the Computerworld Article

Related Articles:
- Infoworld: Denmark: OOXML vote won’t affect public sector
- Computerworld: Standards NZ claims Geneva success

BRM Commentary on Draft ISO/IEC 29500 Standard

A press release from the International Standardization Organization (ISO) was posted today summarizing the ballot resolution meeting (BRM) that took place Feb 25-29 in Geneva, Switzerland, on the draft international standard ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology – Office Open XML file formats. At the beginning of the meeting, each national body was invited to raise the issues they considered to be their priority so that these could be discussed during the BRM. When it was apparent that it would not be possible for all comments to be reviewed individually, the meeting members discussed and agreed on a voting procedure to decide on the remaining proposed modifications. A total of 43 resolutions, involving dispositions or groups of dispositions, were accepted, most of them unanimously, some by consensus and only four by simple majority; four were refused.

Read the ISO Press Release

Patrick Durusau: The Importance of Being Heard

Following last week’s ISO ballot resolution meeting (BRM), Patrick Durusau, editor of the ISO26300 and OASIS ODF specification, indicates his support for making Open XML an ISO standard. In his open letter he writes, “Because approval of DIS 29500 insures an effective international and public forum whose members will be heard by Microsoft I recommend approval of DIS 29500 as an ISO standard.”

Read Patrick Durusau's Letter

Easily Translate Open XML to DAISY XML Standards

A free, downloadable add-in for Microsoft Word enables translation of Open XML documents into DAISY XML, the lingua franca of the globally-accepted Digital Access Information SYstem (DAISY) standard for digital talking books.

Read More

CHU Grenoble and Programmer’s Case Studies Added

Two new case studies were added featuring one of France’s leading healthcare providers, CHU Grenoble, and Brazilian based software and IT services company, Programmer’s. Read how they both benefited by implementing Open XML based solutions in their organizations.

Read Case Studies

ISO/IEC Ballot Resolution Meeting Concluded

Ecma International posted a press release today in regards to the BRM and the final 30 days of National Body deliberation on DIS 29500.

Read the Ecma Press Release

Your Documents, Your Choice: Open XML

A new policy guide that provides a compilation of studies and fact sheets that span government and policies around the world is now available. The studies demonstrate how neutral, objective, and competitive government procurement policies that do not exclude vendors from the process promote government efficiencies, competition, innovation, and economic growth.

For Governments page

Three New Case Studies Added

Check out three new case studies that showcase businesses from the United Kingdom who have benefited from using Ecma Office Open XML formats-easyJet, Park Group, and QinetiQ.

Read Case Studies

Microsoft offers patent protection for Office binaries

Microsoft said that it has added Office binary formats to a list of technologies that are protected against patent-violation claims, answering criticism from some involved in the OOXML (Office Open XML) file-format standards process. The OOXML format is being considered as an international standard by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), but translation between the original Office binaries and OOXML is necessary for there to be seamless document exchange between older versions of Office and Office 2007. Corporate developers and makers of other office productivity products need access to the formats in order to write converters between Microsoft's format and the possible standard.

Read the InfoWorld article

New Case Study: BeyondIT Co., Ltd.

Japanese based company, BeyondIT Co., Ltd. created CrypType, an anti-electromagnetic wave information protection software product, used Open XML to help reduce development time and offer protection across all Office system products.

Read More

Open XML: A Poster Child for Open Standards Development?

Patrick Durusau, editor of the ISO26300 and OASIS ODF specification and the head of the delegation for the US standards at SC34, recently voiced his opinion on the openness of Open XML in a letter he wrote. Puzzled by the attacks that Open XML is not an "open" standard, he writes: "...a well defined and publicly controlled OpenXML would be a great benefit for future work on the OpenDocument Format standard so I have no reason to wish it ill." And, "...the improvements made to OpenXML during the process make it a poster child for the open standards development process."

Read Patrick Durusau's letter

Enabling Open Innovation and Interoperability

New paper for government policy makers examines the important role that intellectual property plays in driving innovation and interoperability in the IT industry, now available on the ACM Portal and on the For Governments page on this site.

Read the ACM Portal article and PDF

For Governments page

Microsoft Preps OOXML for ISO Vote

Michael Desmond, founding editor of Redmond Developer News Magazine, interviews Burton Group analyst Peter O'Kelly and references Tom Ngo of Ecma International regarding the outcome of the recent Open XML dispositions.

Read the Redmond Developer News article

Massachusetts Embraces Open XML

An article in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel February edition, "The Power Of Choice: Massachusetts Wisely Embraces Multiple Document Format Standards To Drive Greater Competition And Innovation", covers the details of why and how the state of Massachusetts decided to include Open XML in their document format standards. Originally they had solely adopted Open Document Format (ODF); however, after years of debate, Massachusetts finally agreed to allow competing document format standards, specifically Open XML along with ODF. According to authors Francis M. Buono and McLean Sieverding, "Massachusetts became more transparent and democratic, government officials ultimately arrived at a more rational conclusion that permits multiple, interoperable standards to serve the unique needs of various users, which will lead to much greater choice, competition, and innovation."

Read The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel article

Four New Case Studies Added

Check out the latest case studies showcasing businesses benefiting from Open XML--Nuance Communications (US), NEC Learning, Ltd. (Japan), NSD CO., LTD. (Japan), and a variety of Indonesian-based companies cited in the pdf entitled, “OXML: Connecting People, Data, and Diverse Systems.”

Read Case Studies

A gadfly's take on IBM's 'support' for Open XML

On Tuesday, ComputerWorld’s Eric Lai’s blog highlighted his recent interview with Sam Hiser, one of the heads of the OpenDocument Foundation Inc. He asked Hiser about the January 21 article in ComputerWorld, “Lotusphere: Whoops! IBM products support Microsoft's Open XML doc format” and Rob Weir, one of IBM’s employees, response to it in his blog “An Antic Disposition” on January 21.

Read the Computerworld blog

Lotusphere: IBM products support Microsoft’s Open XML doc format

ComputerWorld has reported that according to IBM’s web sites, IBM supports Open XML formats in at least four of its programs. In addition, initial coverage of Lotusphere, occurring this week in Orlando, Florida, indicates that IBM will be offering a version of Lotus Notes that will work with iPhone and iPod touch—both Apple products that currently support Open XML.

Read the Computerworld Article

Microsoft OOXML finds favour in Malaysia

In Malaysia, a growing number of Malaysian IT companies and independent software vendors (ISVs) are incorporating OOXML (Office Open XML) into their offerings including Tradenex.com, the IT arm of the Federal of Malaysian Manufacturer, that represents over 2,000 manufacturing and industrial service companies. Last month, they launched nexCONNECT, an electronic business collaboration platform that links suppliers, distributors, logistics and financial institutions via the web.

Read the ZDNet.co.uk article

Independent Study Advances Debate Between OOXML and ODF

Analysts from the Burton Group issued a 37-page research paper that examines the differences between OpenDocument Format (ODF), Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) and other document formats entitled, “What’s Up, .DOC? ODF, Open XML and the Revolutionary Implications of XML in Productivity Applications”. The study was not commissioned by Microsoft or any other tech vendor and found Open XML format to be more pervasive and complex than the rival ODF.

Read the ZDNet India Article

Reports & Whitepapers

New Whitepaper: The Government at the Standards Bazaar

Research recently published in the Stanford Law and Policy Review helps explain the benefits of government restraint in mandating technology standards.

Read more

New Case Study: D&I Systems Consulting Inc.

Japanese based software development and system consulting company, D&I System Consulting, offers Office Open XML front-end technical support services. They have found that Open XML helps users exploit existing assets and handle documents and data in the user-friendly Office interface.

Read more

New Case Study: Advance Software

Advance Software creates software development tools and utility software such as data converters for their customers in Japan. They developed ExcelCreator 2007 and VB-Report 2007, two revolutionary tools that support file generation and form design utilizing Open XML.

Read more

Ecma Final Comment Disposition Report Released

Over the past several months Ecma’s Technical Committee (TC45) has been hard at work reviewing and responding to each of the (3,522) comments submitted by ISO/IEC National Body members. Today, Ecma international announced the final report containing all of Ecma TC45’s proposed dispositions for ISO/IEC DIS29500.

Read the Ecma Press Release

Solution Based Companies Show Benefits of Using Open XML

Intrasphere Technologies and MS Technology, two companies that offer Open XML based solutions for customers in India, were highlighted in CXOToday.com, showing the growing worldwide support for the adoption of Ecma Office Open XML. Intrasphere Technologies, a consulting services and solutions provider for life science organizations, found that Open XML cut their development time by at least 50%. MS Technology, a software development company specializing in imaging and image-processing technology, reduced the amount of time spent on resolving formatting issues by 70% as well as improving overall customer satisfaction.

Read the CXOToday.com article

Read the Intrasphere Technologies Case Study

Read the MS Technology Case Study

Over 92% of Proposed Dispositions Addressed by Ecma

As of today, Ecma TC45 has posted a total of 3,252 (92.3%) of the 3,522 ISO/IEC National Body comments. Much of the specific information is confidential at ISO’s request, and shared privately with the participating National Body members through Ecma’s password protected web portal. However, Ecma has provided some general insights about some of the topics it views to be more significant or controversial in nature, and to which the group has proposed recommended changes to improve the specification prior to its formal ratification in March.

Read the Ecma Press Release

Read the Ecma Status Report

Ecma Posts Third Batch of Proposed Dispositions

Ecma has posted a third batch of proposed dispositions, bringing the new total to 2,298 comments addressed - nearly two-thirds of the total. In addition, today’s proposed comment dispositions include some notable technical recommendations from Ecma TC45 aimed to further resolve some of the outstanding significant issues. Ecma will continue its work to reconcile the remaining comments over the coming weeks, in preparation for the delivery of a comprehensive report of proposed dispositions that will be issued by the ISO/IEC Project Editor in mid-January.

Read the Ecma status report

Read the Ecma press release

Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions from the appointed Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) Convener

Quickoffice Supports Office 2007 File Formats

Quickoffice Premier 5.0 released an application for viewing and editing Microsoft Office 2007 system files on devices that run the Symbian S60 software platform. With Quickoffice, users can now open, view, edit, and create Word and Excel 2007 documents in the XML format on their S60 devices.

Read the InformationWeek article

Haansoft Announces Support for Open Document Standards

On Thursday, December 13, the Korean based software company, Haansoft, announced that it planned to support not only Open Document Format (ODF), but also Open XML in its next release of Hangul software for Windows. This plan is based on their conclusion that ODF is not fully capable of supporting diagram based documents which are frequently used in enterprises and government institutions. Haansoft plans to cultivate its competitive power and lead the standardization of domestic office documentation by supporting internationally recognized open documentation standards.

Read the ZDNet Korea article

Case Study - Fractal:Edge London, England

London-based Fractal Edge developed a product to offer businesses a fast and efficient way to view complex pivot table information. Developers used the Ecma Office Open XML file format to incorporate specifications for a Fractal Map of this data. As an open standard, the published specifications for the new Microsoft Office file formats are available with a royalty-free license, which means developers can freely access the full documentation and quickly learn how to integrate Office files into their solutions. Developers can use the greater transparency of the file format to navigate its parts and relationships, locate information, and manipulate content. They can also use the more extensible formats to develop interoperability between applications such as Microsoft Office Word and Excel.

Read the ZDNet Korea article

Second Batch of Proposed Dispositions Released by Ecma

Ecma TC45 announced today the posting of the second batch of over 1,000 new proposed dispositions—bringing the total to just over half of the 3,522 National Body comments under review. The ISO/IEC DIS 29500 Project Editor is on track to release a final document by mid-January 2008.

Read the Ecma status report on current progress of response to National Body comments.

Read the Ecma press release outlining resources available and process for proposed dispositions.

Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions posted by ISO/IEC BRM Convener (the 'go to resource' for information on the ballot resolution process for Open XML).

Microsoft and DAISY Announce Open XML to DAISY XML Converter

Today Microsoft and the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium announced a joint standards-based development project that will make it possible for computer users who are blind or print disabled to make better use of assistive technology in their daily lives. A reference model for other Open XML solution providers, this open technical collaboration project on SourceForge.net will yield a free, downloadable plug-in for Microsoft Office Word that can translate Open XML-based documents into DAISY XML, the foundation of the globally accepted DAISY Standard for reading and publishing navigable multimedia content. The plug-in is expected to be launched early next year and will be compatible with the versions of Word within Office XP, 2003, and 2007.

Read the eWEEK article

Document Format Dispute Spills into the Open

A recent decision by the Open Document Foundation to substitute the World Wide Web Consortium's Compound Document Format in place of the format it was set up to promote, the Open Document Format (ODF), has sparked debate over what shape the format should take, namely, whether there should be a single document format or multiple interoperable formats as cited in the eWEEK.com article. Jason Matusow, director of corporate standards at Microsoft said, "The Foundation and other ODF supporters have been saying that there should be only one format." Matusow continued, "Yet, when it comes down to the real world of meeting their needs, even the organization that has a charter to promote ODF decided that a different format was better for it." Mark Blafkin, vice president for public affairs at the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) commented that any policy mandating a single document format will limit flexibility. "[ODF] is not a one-size-fits-all solution for all governments and users around the world," said Blafkin. Sam Hiser, vice president of Open Document Foundation, described the move away from ODF as an issue of application, not format. "If organizations care about compatibility with existing Microsoft Office documents, [ODF] is probably not the best solution for them," said Hiser.

RosettaNet Uses Open XML Standard to Help SMIs Automate Procurement Processes

Today ZDNet Asia announced the development work taking place at RosettaNet Malaysia involving their newly Automated Enablement (RAE) based solutions that have been built on Ecma Open XML standards. RAE based solutions help Small and Medium Industries (SMIs) facilitate wider success of e-commerce while assuring long-term preservation of data, enabling them to participate in the global automated business community. Open XML's capability of storing and managing business data in documents has resulted in lowering costs for business process automation that will enhance global competitiveness for SMIs worldwide.

RosettaNet is a subsidiary of GS1 US, a non-profit consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid deployment of open, business process standards that align processes within global trading networks. Visit RosettaNet to learn more.

ISO/IEC Releases Results for Open XML Vote

September 2 marked the close of the balloting phase for ISO/IEC DIS 29500 (Open XML). The results showed that 51 ISO members representing 74 percent of all qualified votes support ratification of Open XML. The criteria for ISO ratification and results of this ballot are outlined below.

The ISO/IEC JTC-1 rules require:

Results of this ballot:

Microsoft remains optimistic that Open XML will meet the above ISO/IEC requirements after the comments submitted by the National Bodies have been addressed during the upcoming ballot resolution period.

* Note: 32 ISO members voted in favor of Open Document Format (ODF) 1.0 at the end of its process and 15 ISO members supported PDF/A-1 at the end of its process.

For more information:
Read the ISO Standard press release
Read the Ecma International press release
Read the presspass

Resolution Meeting Confirms US Vote

As a result of the INCITS Executive Board Resolution Meeting held yesterday, the "Yes with comments" vote cast last week by committee members was confirmed—12 voting "Yes," three voting "No," and one voting "Abstain" on this motion. Today the position will be transmitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) , the U.S. member body to ISO, and they will place the vote.

U.S. Votes "Yes with Comments" for Open XML

On August 23, the INCITS Executive Board (the United States National Committee) made public their vote on whether or not Ecma Office Open XML (DIS 29500) should be approved as an ISO/IEC standard. They voted "Yes, with comments." A resolution meeting will be held on August 29 to confirm this vote. The results of the vote were as followed:

These results passed the needed two-third majority required to establish the United States position on an International Ballot. In 2004, the EU recommended Microsoft transition to open document standards. The United States vote is one step in the direction to put Open XML under the control of the ISO/IEC standards body. As they've stated, ECMA international will work with the United States and all countries who submit comments to resolve those comments as part of the ballot resolution meeting regardless of the outcome on September 2.

Germany Votes Yes with Comments on Open XML

The responsible Information Technology and selected IT Applications Standards Committee (NIA) in the German Standards Institute (DIN) held a meeting about Office Open XML on August 21, 2007, in Berlin after months of intensive preparations. The meeting was attended by representatives of software providers, application developers, scientific institutes, governmental departments, and authorities. After detailed and constructive discussion about the comments submitted, the committee decided to approve adoption of the draft of ISO/IEC 29500 with comments. The DIN association emphasized that the approval of Open XML includes various suggestions for improvement that will now be integrated into the standardization process.

Gerd Schürman, Director of the Fraunhofer FOKUS eGovernment Laboratory, argued for the DIN vote: "The standardization process of Open XML as an ISO standard will start now and result in the technological advancement of both standards, Open XML and ODF 1.0." Microsoft appreciated the decision of the DIN, stating: "The vote in favor of Open XML and the constructive comments from experts from the industry, science, public sector, and politics encourage us to continue developing Open XML for the purpose of our customers," said Michael Grözinger, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Germany.

Germany's endorsement is one step closer to helping ensure governments, businesses, and developers have open access to a platform independent, open document standard, designed to be backwards compatible with billions of existing documents, that will reside under the custodianship of an international standards body.

For more information, refer to the Press Releases listed below: