The State Government of Rio Grande do Sul and The Document Foundation signed an agreement for strengthening usage of open documents formats. Photo: Tárlis Schneider - Indice Foto
Yesterday morning during 14th International Free Software forum (fisl14), the State of Rio Grande do Sul, through its General Secretariat and IT Secretariat and The Document Foundation signed the ODF Protocol (Open Document Format). The goal is the promotion of joint actions for development and promotion of public policies of usage of open standards in government administrations.
According to Government General Secretary Vinicius Gomes Wu, the State Government is living an important step in regarding open formats. He says that it is necessary to deepen initiatives for developing technologies for autonomy, information democratization and State sovereignity. "We want to make RS State an example in adoption of open standards formats in its structure", he said.
The Document Foundation Representative Olivier Hallot, stressed the relevance of the institution that defends software freedom and its independence. The Director-president of the State Data Processing Company (Procergs), Carlson Aquistapasse, considered the agreement a welcome advancement. "We have the challenge to use technology to deepen democracy", he said. For the General Coordinator of Associação Software Livre (ASL), Ricardo Fritsch, the signed protocol is an important step to ensure use of open standards formats in Rio Grande do Sul.
The initiative to officially support open standards formats is currently a reality in federal government. According to Rogério Alves de Souza, President of the IT Committee in the RS State Government, the move shall reduce in 98% the expenses with proprietary licenses to office software, which today reaches R$ 50 millions in the whole State. "Our new recommendations will make mandatory for public agencies to justify the choice for other formats and solutions not based on ODF henceforth", explains Souza.
One more victory of free and shared knowledge.