Norwegian Standards body implodes over OOXML controversy

In the latest fall out from the ISO (International Standards Organization) ratification of Microsoft's controversial OOXML (Open Office eXtensible Markup Language) standard, Norway's local standard body has imploded.

Standards Norway, the organization that manages technical standards for the Scandinavian country, took a serious blow last week when key members resigned in protest over procedural irregularities in the approval process for Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML) format. The 23-person technical committee has lost 13 of its members.

- Norwegian standards body implodes over OOXML controversy

The International ISO organisation is made up of national member organisations, as well as corporate members. IBM, a major corporate member, has threatened to withdraw from ISO over this issue, and several other nations are tottering on the edge.

India, Brazil, and South Africa are attempting to appeal ISO's fast-track approval of Microsoft's controversial Office Open XML (OOXML) format. The organizations representing those countries in ISO complain of process irregularities, lack of inclusiveness during meetings and debates, and insufficient time to address all of the issues and concerns raised by participants during the review process.

- OOXML revolt brewing? Three countries appeal ISO approval, May 31

Why is this such a big deal? As more and more of mankind's communication and commerce takes place digitally, whoever controls the medium controls everything. This is why open standards and open source software are so important.

Of course it's always possible that the apocalypse will occur and we'll go back to the Bronze Age, in which case we don't have to worry about any of this, do we?

On the other hand, if history continues to develop as it has for the past two thousand years, digital freedom is as useful as political and religious freedom have been, and things like universal literacy and labour-protection laws. It may not be the ultimate reality or the most important thing in life, but it's certainly nice to have.

The other thing I note from this is that procedural irregularities lead to organisational distintegration. Managers of all types take note.