Belgian government chooses OpenDocumentIn a blow to Microsoft, Belgium's government departments will be instructed to use an open file format for internal communications.
The OpenDocument Format (ODF) is to be the standard format for exchanging documents within the Belgian government. This proposal, which is expected to be approved by Belgium's Council of Ministers on Friday, increases the pressure from governments worldwide on Microsoft to embrace open standards.
From September 2008 onwards, all document exchanges within the services of the Belgian Government will have to be in an open, standard format, according to the proposal now before the Belgian Ministers. Only ODF is accepted as such a standard in the proposal. Earlier drafts of the Belgian proposal had treated ODF and Microsoft's own Open XML format (which is to be included in Office 2007) on equal footing. -ZDNet UK
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