Becta is the UK government agency “leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning”. Those of you who have been following the discussions regarding ISO/IEC29500 (i.e. “Office Open XML File Formats”) will probably have seen a number of references to a Becta report in which they called out perceived issues with regard to OOXML interoperability. That report was used by OOXML opponents in a number of meetings I personally attended (at times, I suspected, by people who had possibly not heard of Becta prior to then).

I was please to see today that Microsoft UK and Becta have been working since then to address the issues raised and that a Becta press release on those discussions, titled “Becta welcomes substantial progress in discussions with Microsoft” has been posted here. One quote in particular stands out for me:

“In Becta's view, Microsoft's clear commitment to effective interoperability and to the introduction of a pilot licensing programme is excellent news for schools”

The reason I liked it is that it indicates to me that not only is only is Microsoft making progress on interoperability (I knew that already) but that the progress is visible, impactful and recognised.