Open standards don’t make headlines. Instead, they work quietly behind the scenes to define how information is created, shared and stored. However, as digital ecosystems become more complex and centralised, open standards are becoming increasingly important.
One of the best examples is the Open Document Format (ODF), the native format of LibreOffice documents.
Open standards in the evolving digital world
The current digital environment is characterised by certain trends, such as cloud platforms, subscription software, artificial intelligence-based tools, and tightly integrated ecosystems. While these tools are powerful, they also increase the lock-in effect exerted by Big Tech.
Open standards act as a counterbalance. They provide shared rules that anyone can implement to maintain system interoperability and user control. When a format is open, no single company can decide how information is stored or who has access to it.
With ever-increasing data volumes and documents being transformed into long-term digital archives, this independence is becoming critical.
ODF was designed with one simple goal: to enable users to read and edit documents on any platform and with any software at any time. This goal is still absolutely valid today.
Because ODF is openly specified and standardised, it allows for the coexistence of multiple tools. LibreOffice and other editors can all work with the same files. Even proprietary software can support ODF without facing legal barriers.
Looking to the future, this aspect is more important than ever. Documents are now inputs for automated workflows, archives for public documents and sources for analysis with artificial intelligence tools, not just files on a desktop. Open formats enable these uses without any constraints.
Government, politics and long-term access
The future of ODF looks particularly secure in the public sector.
Governments are responsible for documents that must remain accessible for decades. Using proprietary formats carries risks in this context: companies change strategy, products are withdrawn from the market (Windows 10 docet), and licences evolve. Open standards reduce this risk.
Since digital sovereignty and transparency are political priorities, ODF is perfectly aligned with these objectives, as it enables public institutions to choose their software freely and maintain consistent access to all data.
ODF in the era of cloud computing and artificial intelligence
Contrary to popular belief, standard and open document formats remain highly relevant in an era of cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Cloud platforms store documents in the format chosen by the user. If the format is open, users can move, analyse, edit and reuse data across different systems. The XML-based structure of ODF files makes processing documents at the development level easier, which is a key aspect of automation and AI-based workflows.
Since artificial intelligence tools rely heavily on existing documents for training, summarisation and decision support, transparent formats offer a practical advantage as well as a philosophical one.
Future challenges
Open standards are not without their challenges. They require ongoing governance (responsibility of ODF Technical Committee), consistent implementation across tools (which is lacking, because of the strategy of proprietary and open core software, which are pushing users towards proprietary formats against the user’s own interests) and widespread adoption (which has not yet been achieved for the aforementioned reason). Users favour default choices, which are often proprietary, for convenience and lack of expertise.
The future of ODF, and of open standards more generally, depends on continued support from institutions, developers, and users who value openness, even when it is less visible.
Why the future favours open standards
The long-term trend is clear. As digital systems become more powerful, the cost of lock-in grows with them. Open standards offer a way to share innovation without giving up control.
ODF may not be flashy, but it represents a lasting idea: that documents belong to the people who create them rather than the software they use. In the future of open standards, this idea will be more important than ever.