The OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF Alliance), a broad cross-section of associations, academia and industry dedicated to improve the accessibility to electronic government documents held the first national event in support of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) at New Delhi, which will change the way data is managed across the globe.
The Open Document format (ODF) is an open XML-based document file format that enables the retrieval of information and exchange of documents (including spreadsheets, charts, and presentations) without regard to the application or platform in which the document was created – both now and in the future. Representatives from the various organisations deliberated on the potential of Open Document Format (ODF) in India and action points, which would significantly help increase IT penetration in the country, leading to a narrowing of the digital divide and independence from particular vendors. The key members of the National ODF Alliance, who bring this to India, primarily include Sun Microsystems, IBM, Red Hat, IBM, Novell, CDAC and faculty from IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Bombay. Highlighting the importance of ODF in Indian IT Scenario, Chandershekhar, secretary, Ministry of Information & Technology, Government of India said that with formation of a National ODF alliance, India too would be playing a pivotal role in spearheading the ODF revolution.
