On 25 September 2009 the Norwegian Government adopted a new regulation on mandatory IT standards applicable to the entire public sector. As of 1 January 2010 open document standards will become mandatory for all public websites. 

As the Minister of Government Administration and Reform, Heidi Grande Røys, stated, the new regulation ensures equal accessibility to the content of all public and communal websites. Users of any municipality or state will be able to visit the websites and read the documents regardless the type of software and computer equipment they use. It is a democratic right for all citizens to have equal access to public information and online services.

The new standards are grouped in the reference catalogue, which is available on regjeringa.no. The reference directory, followed by the state sector since 1 January 2009, contains requirements that are considered necessary for all state enterprises. According to the new regulation, the same requirements will also apply to the municipal sector. The purpose of standards, among other things, is to ensure easier and more efficient electronic collaboration within the public sector and between public businesses and users. This, in turn, contributes to the raising of competition and preparation of the ground for reuse, as well as sharing and developing of common solutions for the public.

The reference catalogue is already available in version 2.0, containing from now on, the new IT standards used for video, audio, graphics and image material.

The following are some indicative changes to take place:

• At the government's websites, it will be mandatory to publish multimedia content in open formats:
  • Videos will use Theora/Vorbis/Ogg, or H.264/AAC/MP4.
  • Audio clips will use Vorbis/Ogg, MP3 or FLAC/Ogg.
  • Images will be JPEG or PNG.
• From 1/1/2011 the document format to be used for the exchange of documents as attachments in emails will be PDF or ODF.
• From 1/1/2010 version 1.1  of ODF will be applicable.
• From 1/1/2012 UTF8 will mostly be used for electronic information exchange.

Further information:

• Original source - Ministry of Government Administration and Reform Website (in Norwegian)
• New Mandatory IT standards, Ministry of Government Administration and Reform Website (in Norwegian)
• Reference Directory version 2.0, Ministry of Government Administration and Reform Website (in Norwegian)
• Reference Directory version 1.0, Ministry of Government Administration and Reform Website (in Norwegian)