2026-09-11 –, Track Room 1
ODF is an important open standard for office documents. It helps people and organizations keep access to their documents over a long time, and it allows different applications to work with the same document formats. This is especially important when documents must remain usable across many years, systems, and organizations.
Still, the history and current state of ODF are not always easy to understand. Each ODF version has added or changed features. Each application supports different versions and features. Some tools can read or write ODF files directly, while others can work with ODF data through data-processing workflows. As a result, useful knowledge about ODF is often spread across many places.
In this session, Koji Annoura will show a way to manage this knowledge using LibreOffice itself. The main example will be ODF versions, ODF-compatible applications, related tools, and interoperability. The session will also be a case study in a more general method: collecting information, checking sources, structuring data, and keeping the result in a form that can be maintained with LibreOffice and ODF.
ODF is an important open standard for office documents. It helps people and organizations keep access to their documents over a long time, and it allows different applications to work with the same document formats. This is especially important when documents must remain usable across many years, systems, and organizations.
Still, the history and current state of ODF are not always easy to understand. Each ODF version has added or changed features. Each application supports different versions and features. Some tools can read or write ODF files directly, while others can work with ODF data through data-processing workflows. As a result, useful knowledge about ODF is often spread across many places.
In this session, Koji Annoura will show a way to manage this knowledge using LibreOffice itself. The main example will be ODF versions, ODF-compatible applications, related tools, and interoperability. The session will also be a case study in a more general method: collecting information, checking sources, structuring data, and keeping the result in a form that can be maintained with LibreOffice and ODF.
The session will cover:
how to collect and verify information about ODF versions, applications, and interoperability from scattered sources
how to organize this information as structured data using LibreOffice Calc and Base
how this LibreOffice-centered method can be reused for other technical research and knowledge management tasks
Related tools such as Apache Hop, Neo4j, and SQL/PGQ expected in PostgreSQL 19 will be mentioned as optional extensions. They can help when data processing or deeper relationship analysis is needed. However, the main focus will remain on LibreOffice and ODF.
This session is not about replacing structured data with AI output. AI systems can suggest hints, directions, and possible research paths. But complete and reliable knowledge still needs to be stored and maintained properly as data, just as before.
For this reason, it is important not to depend only on a specific AI service or a temporary processing result. Knowledge data should be kept in open formats, such as LibreOffice documents and ODF. By keeping the data in open formats and using LibreOffice to manage and explore it, we can make the evolution of ODF easier to understand, easier to explain, and easier to preserve.
This approach is not limited to ODF. The same method can be used for other topics where information is spread across specifications, documentation, release notes, websites, and community knowledge. Examples include technical research, migration planning, interoperability analysis, educational materials, and organizational knowledge management.
This approach may also support long-term digital sovereignty by keeping knowledge data in open formats that can be maintained and inspected with LibreOffice.
Koji Annoura is a Knowledge Graph architect and open-source community leader based in Japan.
He works with graph technologies, structured knowledge, open standards, and AI systems. His recent interests include Knowledge Graphs, GraphRAG, Neo4j, Cypher, GQL, SQL/PGQ, and how reliable knowledge can be maintained in open and traceable formats.
Koji co-founded the Neo4j Users Group Tokyo in 2013 and founded the Apache Hop User Group Japan in 2021. He has organized more than 50 technical community events and has spoken at international open-source conferences including FOSSASIA, COSCUP, and LibreOffice Conference.
He focuses on building knowledge systems that connect data, documents, tools, and communities in a sustainable way.