FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marino Marcich, ODF Alliance, +1.202.789.4450,
Beth Dozier, Rational PR, +1.202.429.1833,

Universally Accessible Formats Essential to Obama Administration’s Vision of Open Government, Says ODF Alliance

Washington, DC, March 3, 2009.  The ODF Alliance today offered specific recommendations to the Obama Administration to accomplish its goal of making government data available in universally accessible formats. 

“Early in the presidential campaign, then Senator Obama called for a more transparent and connected democracy by, among other actions, making government information available in universally accessible formats,” said ODF Alliance managing director Marino Marcich. “Open technologies like ODF can help transform this vision of open government into reality.”

President Obama’s detailed technology paper, “Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation,” firmly established his commitment to open government and called for “mak[ing] government data available online in universally accessible formats.” The Alliance applauded his technological insight and commitment at that time, and we continue to applaud President Obama for taking quick actions in his first days in office to make the vision of open government a reality.

“ODF is a prominent example of an open, universally accessible document format whose adoption and use by government will advance participatory democracy and more transparency,” continued Marcich in an open letter sent to the Administration today. “Other such prominent examples of open standards that are widely recognized by governments include HTML for web pages and PDF for non-editable, published documents.  All of these formats share the commonality of being widely recognized open standard formats that ensure access today and into the future, even as technologies change.”

The ODF Alliance letter called on the Obama Administration to direct executive departments and agencies to use universally accessible document formats as part of the Open Government Directive called for by the Executive Order on Transparency and Open Government issued on January 21, 2009.  The Alliance also urged the Administration to convene an inter-agency working group to create policies and guidelines regarding the use of open standards and universally accessible document formats to enhance interoperability, and to review and modify regulations on software procurement and its use to ensure adherence to open standards and universally accessible document formats.

“Ensuring that government data is publicly available in open, accessible formats like ODF allows citizens to derive value from such data and encourages them to take action in their respective communities,” concluded Marcich, who highlighted the development of numerous “mash-up” computer applications that show publicly-released data in a user-friendly manner, and the availability of many free ODF-supporting software applications.  “Just as importantly, with ODF, governments ensure important documents and records are accessible decades from now with no worries that their software provider will discontinue support.”

About the ODF Alliance:
The OpenDocument Format Alliance is an organization of governments, academic institutions, non-government organizations and industry dedicated to educating policy makers, IT administrators and the public on the benefits and opportunities of ODF.

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March 2, 2009

Mr. Peter Orszag
Director
The Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Mr. Orszag:

On behalf of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) Alliance, an organization that promotes the use of ODF to help ensure that government information, records and documents are fully accessible across platforms and applications, I am writing in support of President Obama’s commitment to open government and the use of universally accessible formats. 

Early in his campaign for the presidential nomination, Senator Obama’s detailed technology paper ”Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation” firmly established his commitment to open government and called for “mak[ing] government data available online in universally accessible formats.” The Alliance applauded his technological insight and commitment at that time, and we continue to applaud President Obama for taking quick actions in his first days in office to make this great vision of open government a reality.

As you know, electronic documents are the life blood of modern governments.  Openness of the file format standard for these documents is critically needed to improve the efficiency of the internal and external flow of information.  Openness in formats is also critical to deliver higher value for dollar to government while improving its freedom of action, and create new value by unleashing innovation. Unfortunately, most governments, including the U.S. Federal Government, still rely on formats that are not sufficiently open and accessible to citizens now or in the future. 

Those governments that have demonstrated leadership in this area by requiring the use of open, universally accessible document formats have cited numerous benefits, among them: improving citizen access to government services and information; more choice and price competitiveness among applications from multiple vendors, including the availability of free solutions; preserving long-term access to documents for archiving and historical preservation; and leveraging documents and the content contained within them in new and productive ways.

ODF is a prominent example of an open, universally accessible document format whose adoption and use by government will advance participatory democracy and more transparency.  ODF is fully-published and available at no cost without restriction on its use.  Not dominated by, or tied to, a single software provider or its products, ODF’s vendor-neutrality has resulted in its implementation in more than 50 word processing, spreadsheet and presentation applications, many of which are available free of charge.  Other such prominent examples of open standards that are widely recognized by governments include HTML for web pages and PDF for non-editable, published documents.  All of these formats share the commonality of being widely recognized open standard formats that ensure access today and into the future, even as technologies change.

The ODF Alliance supports making government data available in universally accessible formats, and we stand ready to help you and President Obama implement this worthy goal as part of your broader vision to implement open government that improves the quality and accessibility of information and services.  Therefore, I offer the following specific recommendations for you to consider as you focus on policies to accomplish this objective:

1) Direct executive departments and agencies to use universally accessible document formats as part of the Open Government Directive called for by the Executive Order on Transparency and Open Government issued by President Obama on January 21, 2009. The Order directs the Chief Technology Officer to coordinate the development of recommendations to executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles of transparent, participatory, and collaborative government. Requiring the use of universally accessible document formats - namely ODF, PDF, and HTML - could be easily implemented with existing, competing (even free) technologies and would result in immediate benefits for citizens, including greater transparency, easier access to information today and in the future, and more choice on software to access this information.

2) Convene an inter-agency working group to create policies and guidelines regarding the use of open standards and universally acceptable document formats to enhance interoperability. These policies and guidelines would form the basis of an interoperability framework that details how interoperability will be achieved among government agencies and with citizens, maximizing the efficiency in the exchange, management, and reuse of data.

3) Review and modify regulations on software procurement and its use to ensure adherence to open standards and universally acceptable document formats. In addition to clear and consistent policies and guidelines, software procurement regulations should recognize open standards and universally acceptable document formats as a critical step to creating a level playing field for government contracting while saving taxpayer dollars and enabling a smarter government.

We are gratified by President Obama’s recognition of the transformative power of technology and innovation in government and look forward to working with the Administration to make open, interactive government a reality.

Sincerely,

Marino Marcich
Managing Director
ODF Alliance