Japan puts weight behind Open Document standard

JAPAN accepted a policy to take bids from software vendors which support international open standards.

Until now, government agencies were able to ask bidders to bid on products based on whether products offered services which were similar to other software suites. Now, however, the Japanese government will be making products which use open standards a higher priority.

Open Document Format Alliance (ODF) managing director Marino Marcich thinks the move's a step in the right direction for the rest of the world, Japan being a shining example. "By giving preference to open software formats such as ODF, it is saying that information should be comparitively priced and easily available to the widest range of people, now in the future."

"We hail Japan," Marino bizarrely added.

Justsystems general manager Masayuki Hayase reckons the move's a good'un too: "The framework will propel healthy competition and open up more opportunities for small and medium-sized companies in Japan," he said.

Check out Govtech for more, and if it takes your fancy, head on over to the ODF official webbie here. µ