The standardization organization OASIS Open has ratified the Open Document Format (ODF) in version 1.4 as a standard. This means the new version has reached the highest ratification level of the organization. The release coincides with the 20th anniversary of ODF’s first adoption as an OASIS standard.

Since 2005, ODF has served as a vendor-neutral, royalty-free format for office documents, guaranteeing that files remain readable, editable, and exchangeable across platforms. The format is the native file basis for LibreOffice and other open-source office suites. Several governments and international organizations have mandated ODF for their work worldwide, including the NATO, the European Commission, and authorities on several continents.

Version 1.4 remains fully backward compatible with previous versions and brings improvements in several areas. The developer documentation has been revised, accessibility support has been expanded, and professional document formatting has been enhanced. Additionally, new features for data analysis and technical documentation have been added. An overview can be found in the announcement in the Document Foundation’s blog.

Svante Schubert, co-chair of the ODF Technical Committee, explains the strategic direction: "ODF provides a vendor-neutral foundation for office productivity and collaboration. With version 1.4, the standard continues to evolve, supporting cloud collaboration, richer multimedia content, and standardized security." Prospectively, ODF is moving beyond pure document exchange towards standardized, semantic, change-based collaboration.

In detail: New features in ODF 1.4

General improvements include extended specifications for writing directions, complex backgrounds with gradients or hatching for more object types, and the option to mark objects as "decorative" to support accessibility techniques. Shapes can now contain not only simple text and lists but also tables.

In text documents, objects can now be positioned relative to page margins, and a binding area (gutter) can be defined in the page format. In spreadsheet programs, a new function EASTERSUNDAY is added, which calculates the Easter date and related dates. Text color and cell background color can be used as filter criteria. Charts allow for more flexible scale labels and the specification of the base for logarithmic scales. For formula setting, all versions of the MathML formula language are now permitted.

Digital Sovereignty as a Core Goal

According to the Document Foundation, ODF 1.4 strengthens digital sovereignty by shifting control over documents from individual vendors back to the community. Individuals and organizations can independently decide how and with whom they share content, without it being analyzed for commercial purposes or shared without the knowledge of the rightful owner. Like all versions of the standard, ODF 1.4 is based on an XML schema that meets guidelines for simplicity and readability.

However, the Document Foundation criticizes OASIS Open’s communication: The official announcement mentions OASIS sponsors who did not contribute to the development of ODF 1.4, while the Document Foundation, which co-finances development with companies like Microsoft and has always advocated for the standard, is not mentioned. The complete four-part specification of ODF 1.4 is available in the OASIS library.

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.