SL NSDI recommends that datasets has to be published in an open format. It should be machine readable. Considering the current analysis of data formats prevalent in Government, it is proposed that data should be published in any of the following formats: CSV (Comma separated values) XLS (Spread sheet - Excel) ODS/OTS (Open Document Formats for Spreadsheets) XML (Extensive Markup Language) RDF (Resources Description Framework) KML (Keyhole Markup Language used for Maps) GML (Geography Markup Language) RSS/ATOM (Fast changing data e.g. hourly/daily)