IBM Fuels Open Standards Adoption in Emerging Economies Through Support for OpenDocument Format6 December 2005
As governments across the globe and in
emerging economies show increasing interest in open-source alternatives to
proprietary software, IBM today extended its support of open standards to
the desktop. Adding to its broad portfolio of standards-based server
software, IBM announced that the upcoming version of the IBM® Workplace
Managed Client™ will support the newly ratified OpenDocument Format for
Office Applications (ODF) standard. By extending the support of open
standards to the desktop, IBM customers can now help protect an
organization's investment in corporate data by ensuring consistency,
reliability and accessibility of their documents.
This announcement is particularly relevant in emerging markets such as
India, since acceptance of open standards, such as ODF, will help
governments achieve their goal of truly bridging the digital divide and
reaching out to citizens by deploying open, accessible standards -- not
proprietary software.
Commenting on open standards traction in the country, M. Moni, Deputy
Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC) said, ''As a premier
government organization undertaking strategic e-Government/e-Governance
projects at national and state levels, NIC has been promoting open
standards, open source, and products and technology with clear R&D roadmaps
to reach public services to "unreached" and grassroots development. They
are the key factors underpinning our endeavours to leverage Information
Technology as an enabling catalyst to develop and run products and services
more effectively and in tune with India's growing digital based economy.
NIC has received a mandate from the Central Department of Information
Technology to work in the areas of standards to facilitate implementation
of the National e-Governance Programme in the country. The choice,
flexibility and reliability inherent in open standards like ODF are
critical in our efforts to drive the e-Governance / e-Government momentum
in the country. I am happy to commend IBM's initiatives in this technology
domain."
As an increasing amount of corporate data is captured, stored and exchanged
electronically, customers are becoming aware that the accessibility and
maintenance of documents is critical to the long-term success of their
organization. Proprietary file formats force businesses into a perpetual
cycle of royalty and licensing fees, which can restrict growth and
innovation by requiring that companies stay locked into their original
software choices just to ensure future access to their documents. Open
standards like ODF help ensure interoperability between systems, and that
documents will be accessible well into the future regardless of the
platform or software, offering customers the choice and flexibility to base
IT decisions on business needs and avoid being "locked in" to one software
platform or vendor.
"The ODF standard is a key development in the management of corporate data
and documents -- organizations should not have to pay to access their own
data, and the ODF standard ensures that key information like financial
records, government contracts, payroll data and other corporate information
is usable and accessible, regardless of your software platform," said Bob
Sutor, Vice President of Standards and Open Source at IBM. "IBM's
commitment to open standards based platforms, particularly the IBM
Workplace portfolio of products and solutions, has provided businesses an
alternative to proprietary systems, and addresses the market's demand for
greater choice and flexibility in their software needs."
The choice and flexibility in IT decisions and the time and cost savings of
open standards are becoming increasingly popular with businesses around the
world, particularly in emerging economies such as Brazil, Russia, China and
India.
"India is fast emerging as a key country in the global technology
landscape," says Harish Grama, Vice President, IBM India Software Lab.
"With the growth of open standards across the globe, Indian governments and
businesses are realizing the need to embrace and contribute to open
technology momentum while maintaining their freedom of choice. We have
repeatedly seen how open standards increase customer choice in the
marketplace and tear down barriers to integration. This announcement is a
significant step towards bridging the digital divide by driving down prices
and driving up access and interoperability and really demonstrates IBM's
worldwide leadership and commitment to open standards."
The upcoming release of Workplace Managed Client 2.6 will include support
for version 1.0 of the ODF standard. ODF is an XML based standard recently
ratified by Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards (OASIS) that pertains to office applications. OASIS is a
not-for-profit, international consortium that drives the development,
convergence, and adoption of e-business standards. IBM is a member of the
OASIS Technical Committee that developed the standard.
The productivity editors within the upcoming version of the Workplace
Managed Client, including word processing, presentation graphics and
spreadsheets, will support the ability to import, export and rewrite files
saved in the ODF standard. This support for industry standards will allow
IBM customers to rapidly create, manage, and exchange documents within
their business, as well as with their partners and customers. The support
of ODF in IBM's Workplace Managed Client helps businesses of all sizes and
industries take advantage of the cost and time effectiveness of open
standards while leveraging their existing IT investments to help protect
the reliability and efficiency of access to documents in the future.
IBM Workplace Managed Client with ODF support will be available in early
2006.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of
leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Software offers a wide range
of middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms,
allowing customers to take full advantage of the on demand era. The fastest
way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM Software
home page at http://www.software.ibm.com.
IBM, Workplace and Workplace Managed Client are trademarks of International
Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or
both. Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service
marks of others.
Contact:
Sowmya Ramachandran
IBM Communications - India
9845181220
soramach@in.ibm.com
Mike Shamrell
IBM Communications - USA
617 693 1264
michael_shamrell@us.ibm.com
SOURCE: IBM
Source: Marketwire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
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