Open XML and community
Ecma Office Open XML Document Format Appears to Win Approval as an ISO/IEC Standard. Looks like the market is going to get a strong format that will benefit end users involved in document management.
A Joint Technical Committee of the International Standardization Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has concluded its formal process to evaluate Ecma International’s submission of the Draft International Standard (DIS) 29500: Office Open XML (Open XML).
While the final vote has not yet been announced formally, publicly available information shows overwhelming support for Open XML. According to documents available on the Internet, 86% of all national body members support ISO/IEC standardization, well above the 75% requirement for formal acceptance under ISO and IEC rules. In addition, 75% of the Participating national body members (known as P-members) support standardization, also well above the required 66.67% requirement for this group.
In my personal opinion another outcome of this process will be the community factor. The whole process was an opportunity for Microsoft to learn more and more about the importance of the community (in this case the international standard community) and why a consistent participation as an active member is key as well as engage the influencers. Having a solid or the best technology is not enough; our consistent involvement in the community is also needed to have the community embracing our proposal.
For those of you interested in more details about this new standard check these sites for more detailed information:
· Oliver Bell - DIS29500 Becomes IS29500
· Stephen McGibbon - Microsoft: OpenXML "appears to win approval as an ISO/IEC Standard"
· Jason Matusow’s post is now live: IS29500 - Open XML Is An International Standard
On a personal note, I’ll we be trying to gain access to the process debrief in order to learn about the influencers in the standards community because they played a key role for this certification.
Nestor.-
