Computerworld: Standards NZ claims Geneva success
The Rashomon effect notwithstanding, the post Geneva consensus continues to grow ...
Standards New Zealand says its delegation to an international meeting in Geneva to discuss issues around Microsoft's Office Open XML format has had some success.
The local standards body says the delegation was successful in getting its proposed resolutions adopted for two areas of concern for New Zealand.
“New Zealand proposed significant changes to improve accessibility for the disabled, and also changes to the specification relating to web browser compatibility to ensure compatibility with browsers such as Firefox and Safari, both these proposals were accepted and this was a big win for New Zealand,” said Grant Thomas, Standards New Zealand's chief operating officer, in a statement today.
The three-person delegation is headed by Michelle Wessing, general manager of standards development at Standards NZ, who travelled with Colin Jackson, independent technology consultant, and Brett Roberts, director of innovation at Microsoft NZ.
Standards New Zealand now has until the end of March to determine whether to vote for the document to become an international Standard.
As part of the process Standards New Zealand says it will be consulting with its advisory group to determine whether previous concerns have been adequately addressed.
I see Computerworld.co.nz also has a story about a New Zealand company called Intergen that has announced a tool called 'TextGlow' at MIX08. TextGlow apparently combines OpenXML and Silverlight 2.0 beta.
[Update: More on TextGlow here, and you can try it here.]