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Subject: Chapel Hill Technology Advisory Committee

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  • From: Terri Buckner <tbuckner AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: Chapel Hill Information Technology Advisory Committee <chtechcomm AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Chtechcomm] Massachusetts Open Documents Standard
  • Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:59:47 -0500

(Thanks to Alan Rimer for finding this!)

The State of Massachusetts has adopted an open documents policy and fought off several Microsoft challenges to their efforts. One observer notes that this isn't about Microsoft. It about "whose documents are they? Do the people of Massachusetts have the right to control their own documents? Does a governmental agency have the right to decide what software it wishes to use, particularly if it believes it can save money? If it does, then all the hue and cry is pointless. And the real issue, as Kriss pointed out, is the issue of sovereignty, and the very important issues of access and control not only now but also in the distant future."

State Policy
http://www.mass.gov/portal/site/massgovportal/menuitem.fc3949d568c831c14db4a11030468a0c/?pageID=itdmodulechunk&L=3&L0=Home&L1=IT+Planning+%26+Finance&L2=IT+Investment+Planning+%26+Oversight&sid=Aitd&b=terminalcontent&f=_policies_standards_open_standards_policy&csid=Aitd*
Issue Statement*
The Commonwealth must ensure that its investments in information technology result in systems that are sufficiently interoperable to meet the business requirements of its agencies and to effectively serve its constituencies. This policy addresses the importance of open standards compliance for IT investments in the Commonwealth. For the purpose of this policy, open standards is defined as follows:

/Open Standards/: Specifications for systems that are publicly available and are developed by an open community and affirmed by a standards body. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is an example of an open standard. Open standards imply that multiple vendors can compete directly based on the features and performance of their products. It also implies that the existing information technology solution is portable and that it can be removed and replaced with that of another vendor with minimal effort and without major interruption (see current version of the Enterprise Technical Reference Model).

FAQs from the state (lots on financing)
http://www.mass.gov/portal/site/massgovportal/menuitem.59254d74c0e831c14db4a11030468a0c/?pageID=itdterminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Policies%2c+Standards+%26+Legal&L2=Open+Standards&L3=Open+Formats&sid=Aitd&b=terminalcontent&f=policies_standards_opendocformfaqs&csid=Aitd




  • [Chtechcomm] Massachusetts Open Documents Standard, Terri Buckner, 12/17/2005

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