Many eyes are paying attention to what is happening in Massachusetts with the Open Format requirement. Good coverage is available via several blogs, in which Bob Sutor’s blog is probably the most complete and up to date.
One of the things I would like to spread a lot more than it is known is the fact that we have very similar requirements in Chile to the ones being put forward in Massachsetts’ Enterprise Technical Reference Model. The requirements are defined in the supreme decree number 77 and supreme decree number 81 (both available in spanish only), issued in the context of the State Reform and Modernization project.
One of the issues that the State Reform and Modernization is aiming to achieve is the interoperability among governmental entities and with the citizens. This is in itself a complex topic and limiting it to file formats alone would be an unwise oversimplification. But file formats are one of the requirements that are needed and the supreme decrees 77 and 81 address them.
Supreme Decree 77
This decree, signed off on June 3rd 2004, addresses the efficiency of electronic communications among government bodies and between them and citizens. It defines that the government bodies need to specify their file formats and media compatible with their systems, and requires that special readers and applications can be required only when necessary and if those readers and applications are freely available (as in free beer). Also, the file formats have to be compatible, which is further specified in the Supreme Decree 81.
Supreme Decree 81
This decree, also signed off on June 3rd 2004, establishes the minimal technical requirements for governmental bodies handling electronic documents. It referrs to generating, sending, receiving, processing and storing electronic documents. Basically, all electronic documents have to be available in a XML format, following an XML Schema definition. All of the used Schemas have to be publicly available and of free access (as in free beer). The documents have to be self-contained and follow the general rules of being:
- flexible and extensible
- perennial
- interoperable
- having a multiplatform system
Similar requirements are made for repositories, transport of documents and signatures. The requirements start in 2004, 2006 and 2009, depending on the specific government body.Just as Sam writes in this entry on Massachusetts, the Microsoft XML document format does not satisfy the minimal requirements of the Supreme Decree 81. Interestingly, these supreme decrees have not had much public exposure nor criticism. Hopefully this does not mean they will be ignored.