The eaGov blog

Friday the 25.th was the day where I were to present my ODF/OOXML/B103 assignment at an oral exam. The paper is quite good and I’m really happy with the result, eventhough it doesn’t bring forward new groundbreaking  material. But I guess  there has been a need for some new insights on the whole “game” – though, working for IBM probably biases the complete situation a bit. On the contrary, I feel the paper is balanced evenly out. Well, the result of the exam was an 10.      UPDATE: The paper is not online  yet and I don’t know if it will be, since it is in danish and is mostly about the danish scene. Furthermore it was made in 4 quick weeks.

ODF / OOXML assignment i the fall

I have plans for writing an assigment at the IT University in Copenhagen,in the fall, about the two document standards (ODF & OOXML), their technical capabilities, the implementation of them in the public sector, long term benefits (or..) of the dual standard, that has been proposed etc. And for that matter I am in the process of collecting relevant information about the standards. Of course my main focus will be on the public sector in Denmark, but I know that there has been exciting development in Belgium, who choose the ODF standard and put the OOXML to the grave. Exciting news are sizzling i Norway and elsewhere.

Id like to hear from readers of this blog (if any) where I can find relevant theoretical background for this assignment, reports or other research on this matter.

More countries get om the ODF bandwagon. In Germany there is an ongoing debate about open standards – apparently just like in Denmark.

“The Alliance 90 / Green Party MPs in the Bundestag demanded to know how far the German government had come in its efforts to promote open standards in information technology, a target specified as part of the IT Summit in Potsdam. Now, the German government has provided an answer (PDF file) and reiterated its commitment to these goals.
(…)
In addition, the German government says that its “Advancing eGovernment“ conference held at the end of February in Berlin also provided impetus for greater use of open standards in information technology both in industry and in public administration. As a result of this conference, the German government plans to implement open document formats in its administration.” (source : Heise.de)

Now we are waiting for the danish government to respond to the audit of the ODF/OOXML battle. I suspect Hege Sander to get back within this year. Will the danish minister follow the Belgium and apparently the German government(as well at a few large states in the US)? Still there is the dual-standard talk these days, and it will problably be a difficult choice th push Microsoft over the edge and leave ODF in the light. If I were to put my money on the outcome, I would fear the dual-standard, eventhough I am a firm believer in just one.
But then again, I am not a government official and I am not the one to sit down, deciding this from another.