The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on Friday approved the Open Document Format (ODF) as an official national South African standard. The adoption of ODF by South Africa opens the way for the businesses and government to adopt ODF more widely in their processes. ODF is already an international standard, approved by the International Standards Organization, or ISO. And last week Brazil adopted ODF as a national standard through its national standards body.
The South African government has already adopted ODF as one of the standards for government communication.
Bob Jolliffe of the department of science and technology (DST) says that while the adoption of ODF as a national standard won’t have major significance for government - “this is a national standard not a government one” - it will make ODF as a standard more visible and accessible to South African citizens.
He says that while ODF had already been adopted by government, most users were not aware of the format. “This will assist with general awareness raising around ODF.”
Via tectonic.co.za
Posted by FA Editors at 2:31 PM PDT
