I have been inspired by BELGIF for a while, but here is somethig that puts Belgium on The ODF Map:
Dominique Deckmyn of ZDNet reports (same here) some very interesting news from Belgium:
“In a blow to Microsoft, Belgium’s government departments will be instructed to use an open file format for internal communications.”
There is a press announcement from the Belgian Council of Ministers about “Use of open standards for the exchange of office documents”. The announcement is available in only French and Dutch, none of which are languages I am very proficient in, but as far as I can tell, the decision proposed by Mr. Peter Vanvelthoven, Minister for Employment and Computerization, was made Friday by the Council of Ministers, and essentially says:
“All federal government agencies must from September 2007 ensure that they can receive and read ODF documents. This does not exclude the use of other formats. It is up to each agency to determine the way in which the functionality of reading is guaranteed.
Depending on the results of an impact analysis carried out by Fedict, ODF will from September 2008 be the standard format used for the exchange of office documents.”
Someone who speaks French or Dutch, please verify my translation.
