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The International Organization for Standardization has thrown out four appeals against its ratification of Microsoft's Office Open XML document format.
Read MoreThe International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) have given the green light to publish the Microsoft-backed Office Open XML (OOXML) specification after organization leaders rejected appeals from four countries to protest the vote that approved OOXML as a standard.
Read MoreEducation procurement agency Becta has invited 21 suppliers to tender for £80m of proprietary and open source software supply for schools, as it seeks to replace its software licensing framework agreements.
But there are doubts as to whether the official sanctioning of open source in education will make a difference to the most technologically advanced schools.
Read MoreDuring the LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco, I met with Bob Sutor, IBM's vice president of open source and standards. We discussed document standards and the implications of ISO's controversial decision to grant fast-track approval to Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format.
Read MoreGoogle is taking a step into the field of cryptography, with KeyCzar, an open-source tool which allows developers to use encryption within their applications
Read MoreAt the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco, IBM executive Bob Sutor talks about what a desktop will mean in the future, saying it will focus more on mobile devices like iPhones and collaborations across platforms.
Read MoreMicrosoft's problems with OOXML just won't go away. MS-OOXML was supposed to supplant the Open Document Format (ODF), but is becoming an embarrassment. As a format it betrays its hurried origins, and is over-complex. At best, it has technical problems. At worst, it is barely fit for purpose.
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OFE Comment - Having just returned from the Govtech 2008 conference in Durban and having to endure a long 11 hour flight I've had plenty of opportunity to mull over this question. Govtech is now the largest IT event in South Africa, organised by SITA – the State Information and Technology Agency – it was attended by close to 2000 delegates, eat your heart out Europe. I had been invited by SITA to deliver a keynote on Open Source and eGovernment, their assumption (?) being that more is happening in Europe than Africa – maybe? Read more
Gov TV Interview (14MB)
Read MoreSeveral open-source providers are in the running for a new Becta framework covering the supply of software licences to the education sector.
Novell, Sirius Corporation and LinuxIT are thought to be among 21 firms invited to tender for the approved supplier catalogue, worth a potential £80m over four years.
Submissions for the final round have to be in before 13 August. The final list of up to 10 suppliers will be unveiled in October.
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Open Parliament
EU Weekly Synopsis
25 August 2008 Greens urge end to software patents
22 August 2008 Infectious disease surveillance system goes open source
22 August 2008 Opening Windows
22 August 2008 Why is Asia not open to open source?
22 August 2008 Build your own cloud with open source
21 August 2008 Microsoft unveils fruits of online shake-up
21 August 2008 Open Source software movement hails legal ruling on copyright
21 August 2008 Jerry Seinfeld enlisted to boost Microsoft
20August 2008 Java, Standards, and Free Software in Europe
20 August 2008 It’s back to basics to dress up the Windows brand
20 August 2008 Microsoft And Novell Extend Linux Support Accord
19 August 2008 ELASTRA Delivers Cloud Portability With Support for Open Source Eucalyptus Platform
19 August 2008 The Commercial Bear Hug Of Open Source
19 August 2008 Selling support for open source projects that you don't own or contribute to
19 August 2008 A starring role for open source?
NEWS FROM IDABC OPEN SOURCE OBSERVATORY
ISO announces OOXML approval [Aug 19, 2008]