Massachusetts adds Open XML to standards list

Microsoft has scored another victory in its quest to have its XML-based file format accepted as a technology standard. On Wednesday, Massachusetts said it has ratified the addition of Open XML to its list of acceptable document formats for use in its government agencies.

In a statement on its Information Technology Division Web site, the state said it is “moving forward” to include both Open XML and Open Document Format (ODF), as “acceptable document formats.” The statement was attributed to attributed to Henry Dormitzer, undersecretary of administration and finance and interim commissioner for the Department of Revenue, and Bethann Pepoli, acting CIO.

Microsoft submitted Open XML to Ecma International in November 2004, and the standards organization has approved a final version of the specification. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is expected to vote on the Ecma version of Open XML formats later this year, but that process has been muddied by criticism that Microsoft has tried to control what is supposed to be a fair and open standards process. ODF already has been approved by the ISO as an international standard.

In the statement, Massachusetts officials acknowledged that they received comments with “concerns” about Open XML, but “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.” Massachusetts published the comments received about Open XML and ODF on its Web site.

Massachusetts had recently listed Open XML — or Ecma-376, as the file format is known in its standards process in the ISO — in version 4.0 of its Enterprise Technical Reference Model (ETRM), a framework defining where standards will be used and which ones are permissible. Commonwealth residents and agencies had until July 20 to make comments about the draft.

Even as Massachusetts moves forward with Open XML, there is still no guarantee the ISO will approve the format as an international standard. Last week, the International Committee for Information Technology Standards, which represents the U.S. interest in the ISO, said it still hasn’t decided whether it will vote in favor of Open XML in the upcoming ISO vote. Other countries that get a vote, too, have expressed concerns about ratifying Open XML.

In a statement through its public relations firm, Microsoft praised Massachusetts’ decision to add Open XML to its list of approved standards, calling it a “positive development for government IT users in the Commonwealth.” The company also said the decision “reflects the fact that formats will evolve over time and that approved standards lists should also evolve. ”

However, critics of how Microsoft has handled the Open XML standards process and who support ODF were not so pleased. Andrew Updegrove, an intellectual-property attorney and outspoken open-standards and ODF advocate, said the current IT administration in Massachusetts has appeared to bow to pressure from Microsoft rather than stay the course laid out by former Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn, who proposed the open-standards policy in the commonwealth about two years ago. Both Quinn and his successor, Louis Gutierrez, resigned their posts, the former due to personal attacks and pressure because of his policy, and the latter because he said the commonwealth was thwarting innovation in its IT department.

“Massachusetts — or, more properly, a small number of courageous public servants — did something important two years ago when they took a stand for open formats,” Updegrove wrote on his blog. “It is regrettable that their successors have seen fit to abandon that principled stance, even to the expedient extent of waiting a short while longer to see whether [Open XML] formats will be found to be sufficient or lacking under the microscope of the global standards adoption process.”