Massachusetts opts for open docs 'third way'

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is to adopt both OpenDocument Format and Microsoft's rival Office Open XML document format.

In a letter posted by the US state's IT division, Henry Dormitzer, undersecretary of administration and finance, and Bethann Pepoli, acting chief information officer, said that by adopting both standards the "Commonwealth continues on its path towards open, XML-based document formats without reflecting a vendor or commercial bias".

Office Open XML (OOXML) was originally developed in-house at Microsoft. The company insists that OOXML, having gained certification from standards organisation Ecma International, is now an Ecma concern, and no longer a proprietary standard. Microsoft is one of the major technology players that participate in Ecma, and is currently the only vendor that uses OOXML.

At the beginning of July, Massachusetts proposed using both ODF, which is an open International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certified standard, and OOXML as office document formats. The draft proposal was open to comment. Four hundred and sixty comments were received, mostly concerning OOXML. Many of the people who responded to the draft proposal argued against the adoption of OOXML on the grounds of its links with Microsoft.

One respondent, Marino Marcich, managing director of the ODF Alliance, said that, as OOXML is currently only compatible with Office 2007 and Microsoft applications and platforms, Massachusetts would effectively be locking itself into purchasing Microsoft licences.

While Brylie Oxley, one of the project administrators of GNU Media, an organisation that encourages open media production methods, argued that OOXML had been "hastily developed" in comparison with ODF.

However, in their letter Dormitzer and Pepoli wrote that people's concerns would be addressed through the Ecma standards-setting process. "Many of the comments we received identify concerns regarding the Open XML specification. We believe that these concerns, as with those regarding ODF, are appropriately handled through the standards-setting process, and we expect both standards to evolve and improve. The ETRM [proposal] articulates a vision of a service-oriented architecture where information can be shared, reused and repurposed based on XML technologies," they wrote.

Earlier this month, Pepoli said that state agencies will be able to choose which formats they create and save documents in. But those agencies will be keeping the current application suite - Microsoft Office - on their 50,000 desktops.

Massachusetts mandated the use of open formats in desktop applications nearly two years ago, causing a stir among governments and the technology industry. At that time, only ODF met its IT division's definition of an open standard, and was not supported in Microsoft Office.

Since then, Microsoft Open XML has become a certified Ecma standard. The ISO, which holds significant weight with governments around the world, is currently deciding whether to accept OOXML as a standard.

Tom Espiner writes for ZDNet UK