Open Document Format, or ODF, has passed its 20th anniversary in the ISO process. The format, which passed unanimously in the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34 vote on May 3, 2006, was published under the name ISO/IEC 26300 on November 30, 2006. According to The Document Foundation, ODF remains the only open, manufacturer-independent and freely applicable international standard for office documents by 2026. The 20th anniversary of ODF is not just a technical standard anniversary.
Germany’s making ODF mandatory in the federal administration through Deutschland-Stack, Brazil’s legalization of open formats in the education system with Lei 15.211/2025, and public institutions in Europe being under pressure to comply with open standard commitments, brought the issue directly to the title of digital sovereignty. ODF is at the center of the document archive and digital sovereignty debate. The Document Foundation bases the main difference of ODF on its manufacturer-independent structure.
The technical specification of the format is available for free access via ISO and OASIS. Schemes have an auditable structure. It is supported by different and independent applications. The Foundation emphasizes that this structure transforms ODF from being just a file format into a long-term digital infrastructure for public records. On the other side of the debate is the rival office document format, which went through the ISO process in 2008.
The Document Foundation states that this format has split into two branches over time. While one of these, the Strict variant, has found very limited response in the field, the Transitional variant continues to carry the behaviors remaining from old products of a single manufacturer. The Foundation therefore does not limit the distinction between ODF and a competing format to a matter of technical compatibility; It connects the issue to the question of who will read, write and change public documents in the future.
There is no Transitional mode in ODF. According to The Document Foundation, the format allows documents to be stored without being dependent on retrospective producer behavior. This distinction is seen as critical especially for public institutions. Because for state archives, educational institutions, courts, municipalities and public administrations, the document format does not only mean today’s office software choice.
This choice also determines with which software, under what conditions and under whose control the same files will be opened years later. This is why it is noteworthy that Germany has made ODF mandatory within the scope of Deutschland-Stack. While Germany strengthens its digital infrastructure approach that emphasizes open standards in public administration, it also positions ODF at the center on the document format side.
Brazil, on the other hand, introduced open formats into the education system with Lei 15.211/2025. On the European Commission’s side, the issue of compatibility between open standards commitments and public procurement continues to remain on the agenda. Florian Effenberger, Executive Director of The Document Foundation, defines ODF as “the document format of the public that has decided not to transfer its own memory to the outside.” According to Effenberger, governments that make ODF mandatory today are not making a technical choice; It takes back a sovereignty that should not have been handed over before.
On the application side, LibreOffice is at the center of the ODF ecosystem. Developed by The Document Foundation and the global contribution community, LibreOffice uses ODF as the native file format and is the reference implementation of the standard. Collabora Online brings ODF support to corporate and cloud-based uses. The Foundation positions these two structures as the working core of the ODF ecosystem. On the other hand, in the office software market, there are also products that use the discourse of openness, but prefer the rival manufacturer’s format by default.
The Document Foundation states that these software should not be considered as part of the ODF ecosystem. This distinction is especially important for public institutions that implement open standards policies. Because marketing a software as open source or open standard does not mean that the default document format is independent of the manufacturer. As part of the 20th anniversary of ODF, The Document Foundation will organize publications, policy notes and community events throughout 2026.
LibreOffice Conference will include a full ODF-specific session line. This work will be carried out in coordination with the OASIS Technical Committee, which is advancing ODF version 1.4. ODF’s history, structural design and public policy implications will be discussed on The Document Foundation blog throughout the year.
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