Advocacy

Driving Digital Standards: The South Pacific and Asia OOXML Advocacy Project

"Standards are the foundation of global interoperability—and governments have a vital role in ensuring openness and inclusivity in the digital age." — Craig Mundie, Former Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft

Challenge

In the mid-2000s, as governments across the South Pacific and Asia were accelerating digital transformation and e-governance strategies, the question of file format standards became critical. Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) file formats—designed for greater data interoperability and long-term document fidelity—faced global scrutiny and debate regarding their adoption as an international standard.

However, the broader context in the Asia-Pacific region was one of fragmentation, where many governments lacked clarity on what OOXML represented and how it would impact national ICT strategies, digital archiving, and public data access. There was an urgent need to engage directly with policymakers to explain what was at stake and why supporting a standardized approach to file formats could safeguard national digital sovereignty and efficiency.

Strategy

Driven from Microsoft’s regional headquarters in Singapore, the company partnered with GG International, a respected public policy and ICT consultancy, to spearhead a targeted advocacy and engagement campaign. The project brought together a team of regional experts who understood both the technical specifications of OOXML and the political sensitivities of each jurisdiction.

The team embarked on a government-to-government initiative, conducting bilateral consultations, technical briefings, and stakeholder workshops in multiple countries across the South Pacific and Asia. These engagements emphasized the practical benefits of OOXML—such as backwards compatibility, multilingual support, and open licensing—while aligning the file format’s adoption with national interests in modernization, education, and e-governance.

Central to this campaign was demystifying OOXML as a proprietary tool and repositioning it as an interoperable and globally supported file format that empowered governments to control their digital futures without being locked into vendor-specific ecosystems

Transformation

The GG International-led project proved pivotal in shifting perceptions and catalyzing support for OOXML at both national and regional levels. By the time OOXML was ratified as an ISO/IEC standard (ISO/IEC 29500), several Asia-Pacific governments had already signaled formal or informal support for its adoption, thanks to the groundwork laid by this project.

Beyond OOXML itself, the initiative set a new benchmark for how multinational tech companies could partner with policy experts to navigate sensitive ICT policy landscapes and foster meaningful dialogue. More importantly, it equipped governments with the knowledge to make informed decisions about digital standards—decisions that continue to influence public sector interoperability and innovation across the region.