After its initial submission for fast tracking through the ISO/IEC process for standardisation failed, the technical comments relating to Microsoft's Office Open XML document format are under review this week at the JTC1 Ballot Resolution Meeting in Geneva.
A senior delegation has been appointed by Standards Australia to attend the BRM, where some 3,500 technical comments on OOXML from the various participating national bodies are to be addressed.
Standards Australia initially abstained from the first stage of formal voting in September as the relevant government agencies, IT companies, the open source community and other stakeholders held "divergent and polarized" views and failed to achieve a clear consensus on the adoption of the standard.
In a statement released late last week by Standards Australia CEO John Tucker, Australia's peak standards body announced the appointment of the delegation that is attending the BRM this week and outlined the processes that will determine the continuation or amendment of Australia's position.
The delegation will consist of one senior Standards Australia representative and an external expert in the field.
Senior project manager at Standards Australia, Panjan Navaratnam, will head the delegation and shoulder the responsibility for all Australian positions. He will be supported in an advisory role by technical expert Rick Jeliffe.
Despite some concerns surrounding the objectivity of Jeliffe, Standards Australia insists that its delegates are not participating as an agent of any personal or organisational viewpoint.
Australia's position on the comments submitted with the abstain vote in September were developed by Standards Australia along with representatives from Microsoft Australia, IBM Australia, National Archives of Australia, Google Australia, Open Source Industry Australia, GNOME, government departments and XML experts.
The delegation will take with them a brief developed in conjunction with the above working group, consisting of particular advice on Australian issues that have been responded to by ECMA and either have or have not been resolved to Australia's satisfaction.
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According to the statement, the delegation will support unanimous decision making where there are no issues of substance such as general editorial comments, or where there is no substantial disagreement or sustained opposition on technical resolutions.
Where there is a clear lack of consensus at the meeting on issues where there has been no formal advice, prior to or during the meeting, the Australian delegation will abstain if a vote is called.
The delegation will have access to a number of additional sources of advice while attending the BRM, from Standards Australia and the technical working group.
Following the BRM the delegation will provide a verbal report to Standards Australia on March 5, followed by a written report by March 7 for distribution to the technical group and the Communications, Information Technology and e-Commerce (CITeC) Standards Sector Board (SSB), who are responsible for endorsing Australia's final position.
The report will include:
The technical working group will then meet on March 11 to discuss the report and identify issues for recommendation to the CITeC SSB, followed by a recommendation from Standards Australia to the CITeC SSB during the week March 17-21 on whether or not it will reconsider its vote to abstain.
Standards Australia will then communicate its position to the ISO/IEC JTC1, if necessary, by March 29.