If you have been following the recent issue of the standardisation of Open XML here is an update. A European standards expert has dismissed criticisms that the ISO fast-track process for the adoption of the OpenXML electronic document format as an international standard was flawed and unfair. The past secretary general of European standards organization Ecma International, Jan van den Beld, said the fast-track process was necessary to ensure that standardization processes were not bogged down, and that standards were not outdated by the time it is approved years later.

The fast-track process was created by ISO as a way of allowing standards organizations, for example Ecma, to submit one of their existing standards for approval as an ISO standard. OpenXML was adopted by Ecma in December 2006 and then submitted to ISO for fast-track approval. According to van den Beld, it takes an average of 32 months for ISO to adopt a standard under the conventional route. In some cases, it may take up to four years. A fast-track can shorten this process to between six and 18 months. van den Beld was responding to comments that some national standards bodies, including Malaysia’s, had complained that their comments on OpenXML had not been satisfactorily addressed at ISO’s five-day Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) in Geneva end last month.

Originally developed by Microsoft, OpenXML is the rival office productivity document standard to OpenDocument Format (ODF). Ecma had narrowly failed in a ballot last September to gain ISO approval for OpenXML. Malaysia then chose to abstain while other Asian countries including India, Iran, Japan and Korea, voted "no" while Singapore gave its support for OpenXML.  

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In a recent press release, Malaysia's Department of Standards (Standards Malaysia) said the majority of technical issues raised regarding OpenXML had not been addressed satisfactorily at the BRM, held from Feb 25 to 29. "Malaysia had submitted 23 comments and more than 70 percent of them were not addressed satisfactorily by Ecma's proposed dispositions," Fadilah Baharin, director general at Standards Malaysia, said in the statement. 

"Malaysia decided to vote 'Disapprove' [on] the issues not discussed," said Fadilah. However, Malaysia approved certain resolutions that it found appropriate and that were discussed during the BRM, she said. Fadilah confirmed that Standards Malaysia would convene a SIRIM Technical Committee meeting to decide Malaysia's final vote on OpenXML as an ISO/IEC standard by end-March. 

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on March 19 on the sidelines on a standards forum, van den Beld said the fast-track process was listed as ISO's preferred strategy for approving standards. "In the past 20 years, Ecma had brought some 250 proposed standards through the fast-track process at ISO, of which only three were unsuccessful. In total, some 325 standards have been adopted through fast-track at the ISO.

"So, there is nothing unusual for Ecma to opt for the fast-track option. It's the only lean process that ISO has. In fact, the fast-track process is one of ISO's seven strategic objectives."

He said that the various national bodies from around the world had more than enough time to resolve issues pertaining to the OpenXML specification. He explained that the BRM is not only for five days, but the whole period from the end of the ballot (last September) until the meeting in end February. "The BRM is just the tip of the iceberg," he added.

Typically, there were two months between the end of the ballot and the BRM, but in the case of OpenXML there was a gap of almost half a year. He also said much preparatory work could be done by the national bodies to get the necessary information and clarifications on the proposed standard. He added that ISO had suggested to all national bodies that they complete as much work as possible to resolve the entire list of minor and non-controversial issues before the Geneva BRM meeting.

In addition, van den Beld said Ecma had also organised weekly teleconferences and e-mail interaction for delegates with serious issues relating to the specification in the run-up to the BRM. "The ISO must provide a level playing field for all sorts of technologies. They cannot say ‘no' to A and ‘yes' to B... then they will lose their neutrality," said van den Beld.

He also advised governments against mandating just one electronic document standard as it may run foul of World Trade Organization policies and open themselves to possible legal challenges. "One of the big concerns of WTO is that you should not use standards as a barrier to trade," he said.

 "If a government enforces [use of just one standard], that would mean the whole country is not allowed to use OpenXML. Then, they could get into a very difficult legal situation as they can be challenged legally," opinioned van den Beld.

For the technical perspective, he added, governments which mandate exclusive use of one standard may end up using outdated technologies, being overtaken by newer and more innovative technologies. van den Beld concluded that whatever the outcome of the final ISO vote on OpenXML, the ‘war' between the two standards will continue to be fought in the market place.

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