XML-based Office Document Standards
by Walter Ditch
August 2007
Executive Summary
The tacit acceptance of proprietary office file formats as a way of achieving interoperability is becoming less acceptable. Government agencies, in particular, are becoming increasingly conscious of the need to provide easy access to electronic documents to all stakeholders, while not requiring them to purchase a particular software product in order to view or edit these documents. The requirement to provide long term availability and archiving of documents is also encouraging a move away from proprietary file formats. JISC and the wider HE/FE community, as part of the public sector, will be required to address these issues with respect to how they deal with the publication of electronic documents, and the internal/external transference of document files.
The drive to move to open file formats has been ongoing for several years, but as Microsoft, the market leader in office document formats, has arguably been slow to move from its proprietary, binary file formats, the net effect, for most people, has been the continued use of proprietary, de facto standards. However, due to pressure to move towards more open document file formats, Microsoft has implemented a staged introduction of XML-based formats for its Office suite. With the release of Office 2007, the transition has been formalised, and existing users who upgrade to Office 2007 will, essentially, be upgrading to a form of XML.
As far as education is concerned, the use of modifiable office document formats has now reached a crucial stage However, this has not been without considerable controversy, and recent developments related to XML-based office document standards have reached a watershed. This TechWatch report explains these issues and some of the standards involved. It proposes that although the UK higher and further education sector has, for a long time, understood the interoperability benefits of open standards, it has been slow to translate this into easily understandable guidelines for implementation at the level of everyday applications such as office document formats. As far as education is concerned, the use of modifiable office document formats has now reached a crucial stage. There is an urgent need for co-ordinated, strategically informed action over the next five years, if the higher education community is to facilitate a cost effective approach to the switch to XML-based office document formats.