The open standard format, OpenDocument (ODF), has advanced a big step in its way to its full consolitation as the "esperanto" of the document formats.

Soon we will bring you much more information and documentation.

Please, get in touch with this web and the tag #odfplugfest of Twitter.

Also, sorry for being as concise, but... we are still trying to get back to home...

Press release -- Madrid, March 31th, 2010 .--

The ODF Plugfest international congress will take place at the University of Granada from April 15th to 17th.

The most important companies in software development will meet with public entities and governments at this event.

The East Andalusian capital has been chosen for celebrating the third edition of the ODF Plugfest international conference, that will be held from April 15th to 17th at the University of Granada by the NOiV of the Holland Government, Fedict of the Belgium Government, CENATIC (Centro Nacional de Referencia de Aplicación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación basadas en Fuentes Abiertas), OPENTIA, a company specialising on interoperability, and the University of Granada, all this backed by the ODF standadization committees of OASIS.

A Conference Unique in the World

The ODF Plugfest will get together the most important international experts in terms of document interoperability, plus the highest positions in main office and document applications. This conference has a double target:  Firstly to achieve the maximum interoperability between competing applications, platforms and technologies in the area of digital document sharing. Secondly, such a technical side of the work to be combined with the spreading of the open document format ODF.

“The ODF Plugfest is the place where knowledge about the different ODF applications is exchanged for achieving its necessary interoperability", said the Minister of Foreign Trade of Holland, Frank Heemskerk, at the first edition of the conference held on La Haya. "Holland can perfectly be considered the leading country due to its [the Pulic Administration] compromise to support ODF", he added.

Miguel Jaque, CEO of CENATIC, primary sponsor for the conference, said that Granada was chosen as venue for the event mainly because "the interest on both the [Spanish] Law 11/2007 of Electronic Access of Citizens to Public Services and the Spanish Interoperability Framework is a proof of the bid made by the Dutch and Spanish governments on open standards as key element of their strategy for developing the Informational Society". Jaque also wanted to thank, as main sponsor for the event, "the support given by entities as OpenOffice, KOffice, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, among others, whose participation in the PlugFest demonstrates their support to open standards, consolidating their products competitiveness and giving more freedom to the users".

As for, Alberto Barrionuevo, CEO of OPENTIA, an expert company in interoperability coorganizing the conference, declared that "European IT companies can now compete in a worlwide market because of the definition of OpenDocument as estandard ISO 26300”. He also said that “with this action, by first time in IT history, the format was abstracted completely from the application, allowing every small or big company read, handle, or write electronic documents using their own programs in equality of conditions to any other operator in the market”.

Finally, from the University of Granada, José Luis Vertegay, TIC Delegate for the Rector, highlighted the importance of this Institution being elected for deciding how will be done during the next decades the transcription of Human Knowledge to digital formats: “The University is not  just a savvy center but resolution center of real life problems for the whole Humankind. So, what a better place for hosting a historic meeting as the ODF Plugfest?”

More information at the ODF Plugfest Granada 2010 website.

Main organizers and sponsors for the ODF Plugfest Granada 2010: