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Adhering to these guidelines can enhance productivity and guarantee that documents remain consistent, robust and accessible over time, irrespective of the platform. Firstly, use an editor such as LibreOffice that natively supports the format without conversion. This preserves the nuances of the ODF XML structure, supports all its features and reduces the risk of formatting issues or data loss. It also ensures that documents are fully compatible with the ISO standard. Secondly, use an up-to-date version of LibreOffice to benefit from continuous improvements in ODF feature management, avoid bugs that could cause file corruption (a rare event thanks to the robustness of the ODF format, but still possible) and enjoy the highest level of security in file management. Thirdly, use LibreOffice document templates and styles for all elements, such as headings, fonts, paragraphs, and tables, to ensure consistent formatting throughout the document. This allows you to make global changes quickly by changing the style rather than each individual element, and improves accessibility, as screen readers and other assistive technologies rely on a consistent structure. This also results in smaller, more robust ODF files. Creating and reusing LibreOffice templates is an excellent practice for companies that produce many similar documents (such

ODF ensures that documents remain accessible, portable, and free from restrictions. Now that version 1.3 has been widely adopted and version 1.4 is on the horizon, it’s time to have a look at the new features and upcoming releases. ODF 1.3: What’s New ODF 1.3 was finalised in January 2021 by OASIS. It introduced a number of long-awaited improvements, particularly in the areas of security, digital signatures, and document integrity. 1. Digital signatures and document security: One of the most significant enhancements in ODF 1.3 was the formal specification for digital signatures: It now supports XAdES (XML Advanced Electronic Signatures). You can sign entire documents, individual parts (e.g. only spreadsheets), or even multiple sections. Improved metadata provides information about who signed, when and under what circumstances. This is a significant development for public administrations and organisations that require reliable document verification. 2. OpenPGP support for encryption ODF 1.3 now offers optional OpenPGP-based encryption in addition to the traditional Blowfish method. Higher cryptographic standards and better integration with tools such as GnuPG are also included. It encourages key-based encryption for personal and business documents. 3. Change management: The format now offers greater granularity for change management. Supports change tracking in tables,

To write this article, I went beyond the limits of my technical knowledge, which is that of an advanced user who has studied standard formats and their characteristics in depth, to understand why standard formats – one of the pillars of digital sovereignty – and proprietary formats – their opposite, and one of the biggest obstacles to digital sovereignty – are not perceived as a problem by most PC users, who continue to use Microsoft’s proprietary formats and place the access and availability of their content in the hands of the US company. To try to remedy this problem, I will try to explain as simply as possible, using non-technical language (which may shock developers, but this article is not aimed at them), some technical features of the Open Document Format (ODF), which make it the cornerstone of an open and vendor-independent ecosystem for office documents, defending the digital freedoms of all users and the governance of their content. I will begin by explaining how to unpack an ODF file, which is nothing more than a set of XML files and other files (for images and videos) contained within a ZIP folder, in order to examine its internal components and,