Danish Parliament (Folketinget) decides on Open Standards

http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/5646

The Danish Parliament (Folketinget) has recently decided: Parliament imposes on the government a duty to ensure that the public sector's use of IT, including use of software, is based on open standards.

The Government should adopt and maintain a set of open standards at the latest by 1 January 2008, or as soon as technically possible, which can serve as an inspiration for the rest of the public sector. Open standards should thereafter be part of the basis for the public sector's development and procurement of IT software with the object of promoting competition.

The Government should ensure that all digital information and data that the public sector exchanges with citizens, companies and institutions, is available in open standards-based formats.