OGC Newsletter - May 2002

May 2002

CONTENTS
Presidents Message
Focus on IP: Request for Communities
Interoperability Program Update
Outreach and Community Adoption Program Update
Member Corner
New Members
OGC In The News
Events
Contact
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Back issues of OGC News are available.


PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Last month, the OGC reorganized. We added an Outreach and Adoption Program (OCAP) to the existing Specification and Interoperability Programs. Mark Reichardt, Executive Director of OCAP, will manage Business Development, Marketing Communications, Field Operations, and Support Staff.

In a nutshell, Outreach and Adoption means promoting our work into the larger geospatial and IT community. This new focus is a measure of the success of OGC's other programs. Using OGC interfaces, many of our vendor members' commercial products now interoperate at a basic level. Users unfamiliar with OGC are beginning to benefit from our members' efforts and the number of users who could benefit is huge. We want more organizations to bring their interoperability requirements into our Interoperability and Specification activities (Outreach) and we want more organizations to acquire and use systems, applications, services and components from our vendor members that incorporate OGC interface specifications (Adoption).

This month FGDC, Intergraph, and NASA each upgraded their OGC membership level from Principal to Strategic Member, the Consortium's highest level of membership. FGDC and NASA bring important interoperability requirements into the OGC process. Intergraph provides market and technical expertise. All three organizations will engage in strategic planning in both the Planning Committee and the new Strategic Advisory Committee. They will contribute significant in-kind support such as specification revisions, discussion papers, proposals, tutorials, and chair Working Groups and Special Interest Groups. And, they will support 2002 Interoperability Initiatives.

Around the world, Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) initiatives are gaining momentum. At the same time there is a heightened awareness of the role that critical infrastructure plays in protecting other infrastructure systems. The valuable role of compatible Spatial Data Infrastructures at the national, regional, and global levels is becoming increasingly apparent: interoperable SDIs are necessary to support the day to day issues, and to cooperate on the other important issues. Awareness of this simple fact will contribute significantly to the success of OGC's Outreach and Adoption efforts.

David Schell, President, OGC

FOCUS ON IP: REQUEST FOR COMMUNITIES

The series of efforts referred to as the OGC Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative or CIPI define an important step for OGC. For the first time an initiative begins with a Call for Communities or CFC. The CFC itself indicates that this work is tied into the users of spatial data and technology. In the first part of the CFC, OGC is reaching out to government agencies at all levels (in Canada, the US and other countries); non-governmental organizations; academic groups; and private sector companies involved in Critical Infrastructure systems to participate in a series of hands-on, collaborative engineering efforts to test the effectiveness of new open standards.

In the past users of geospatial technology and data thought of themselves as consumers of what OGC produces: specifications. Government agencies, schools, integrators, and private companies chose, or didn't choose to seek out, purchase or integrate interoperable solutions. Now, with the need for data sharing to protect our nation as impetus, it's time for the individual consumers to explore and help define how the data they use day to day and the process they've developed fit together with the larger geospatial community.

OGC is not necessarily looking for financial contributions here, but rather, the things no other group can provide: experience and data. OGC needs to know about these communities' needs, past experiences, future plans, workflows and the data related to critical infrastructure.

A second part of the CFC involves a survey that invites governments to provide information that will help guide policy development related to the spatial data and spatial technologies that are so critical to communities to support emergency management and a broad range of other programs. Spatial Technologies Industry Association (STIA) is hosting this Geospatial Readiness Survey.

STIA, whose members are primarily geospatial technology providers, raises the awareness of federal and state policy makers on matters of policy, legislation, and regulatory issues related to spatial technologies. STIA's main goal is to identify and advance community interest in legislation that would make more funding available to communities to establish and improve the ability to create, maintain, integrate and use geographic information within and across their jurisdictions in support of Homeland Security and other emergency response needs. Input from communities will help determine and shape the STIA policy agenda. Through STIA's efforts, policy recommendations based on the survey and the outcomes of the Pilot Project will be communicated to federal and state policy makers, most of whom do not understand the importance of these issues.

This project is an ideal way to firm up plans for critical infrastructure protection, contribute to OGC's interoperability efforts, and explore the cutting edge of technology alongside its developers.

We look forward to working with a wide range of participating communities from across the globe.

Terry Idol,Director of Operations, Interoperability Program

INTEROPERABILITY PROGRAM UPDATE

The OGC Interoperability Program (IP) is a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program designed to deliver proven candidate interface specifications into the OGC Specification Development Program.

Multi-hazard Mapping Initiative (MMI)

After an unexpected delay, the Multi-Hazard Mapping Initiative is once again proceeding toward a demonstration of the sharing and collaborative exploitation of natural hazards data. This demonstration is scheduled for May 9, 2002 at 1:30. Scenarios for the planning and mitigation of natural hazards focus on California and North Carolina. A number of geographically dispersed servers host the data, which is accessed using OGC interfaces. FEMA is the initiative sponsor and participating companies include CubeWerx, Compusult, Harvard Design and Mapping, ESRI and SAIC. To register, visit: http://ip.opengeospatial.org/mmi/index.html

Conformance & Interoperability Test & Evaluation (CITE) Initiative

The OGC has announced a Call for Sponsors for the OGC Conformance & Interoperability Test & Evaluation (CITE) Initiative. Set to commence in May 2002, the CTIE Initiative will focus on the development of a conformance-testing engine, test guidelines, and test scripts for testing and validation of products with interfaces implementing OpenGIS Web Map Server and Web Feature Server Specifications, Geography Markup Language (GML), and other OpenGIS Implementation Specifications.

OGC Web Services - 1.2 (OWS - 1.2)

Sponsors of OWS-1.2 are currently evaluating responses to the Request for Quotations The kickoff is planned for May 20th, in Herndon, VA, just outside Washington D.C.

Military Pilot Project (MPP-1)

At the request of sponsors, the MPP-1 demo was presented at the 40th Technical Committee meeting, following the Wednesday night reception. Senior officials from agencies in the U.S., Canada, and other dignitaries were present to have a look at the results of participants' hard work. The demonstration reaffirmed that interoperability can work in real world situations.

Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI-1)

The third CIPI planning meeting was held in March. Sponsors are moving forward towards multiple potential pilot projects. The initiative is expected to have a "Call for Communities" seeking those working in similar disciplines such as mapping organizations or transportation agencies to define areas for exploration.

Geospatial One-Stop Transportation Pilot (GOS-TP)

The Geospatial One-Stop is a part of the new US Office of Management and Budget E-Government initiative to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and customer service throughout the Federal Government. The strategy, adopted by the President's Management Council (PMC) in October 2001 implements the "Expanding Electronic Government" reform outlined in the President's Management Agenda. Geospatial One-Stop will revolutionize E-Government by providing a geographic component for use in all Internet based E-Government activities across local, state, tribal and Federal government. The implementation of the Geospatial One-Stop will:

- Provide standards and models for the geospatial framework data content;

- Provide an interactive index to geospatial data holdings at the Federal and non-Federal levels;

- Initiate interaction between Federal, state, and local agencies about existing and planned spatial data collections; and

- Provide an online access point to geospatial data.

OGC's initiative aims to provide an end-to-end pilot demonstration of the Geospatial One-Stop implementation for Road Transportation Network. Specifically, this initiative will include development of an Object Model for Road Transportation Network in the Unified Modeling Language (UML); development of a capability to generate Geography Markup Language application schemas (GML) from UML models; and demonstrations of Web Feature Servers on top of at least two legacy transportation data systems.

Organizations interested in sponsoring or participating in OGC Interoperability Program initiatives should contact Jeff Harrison at (703) 491-9543.

OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY ADOPTION PROGRAM UPDATE

Outreach and Community Adoption is a new OGC team addressing communications and educational programs and interoperability outreach initiatives.

United Nations Strategic Plan

Outreach and Community Adoption is a new OGC team addressing communications and educational programs and interoperability outreach initiatives.

United Nations Strategic Plan

OGC is supporting the United Nations (UN) in the development of a Strategic Plan for Geographic Information (GI). Based on extensive interviews with UN staff and assessment of current policy and operations, a set of recommendations is being developed in the areas of geographic information, standards and technology. This study will examine the policy, technical, organizational, collaborative and financial aspects of using and sustaining GI in the UN. With a major focus on interoperability, the plan will provide a set of key recommendations regarding geographic information generation, maintenance and use, standards, and system architecture. Sustainability recommendations will also be provided.

Geographic Information for Sustainable Development (GISD)

The Geographic Information for Sustainable Development Initial Capability Pilot (GISD-ICP) formally began on May 13th with a combined in-person and phone Kickoff Meeting. The sponsors for the effort are the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and Natural Resources Canada. Seven member organizations are participating in the project including new member Advanced Technology Solutions, CubeWerx, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), FGDC, Intergraph, Ionic, and Laser Scan. The project's primary goal is to form a framework of existing GIS data sources serving Africa behind OGC Web Map and Web Feature Servers. Several networks and many sources are already available over the web, but a user lacks the ability to work seamlessly with them because they do not currently support OGC-standardized interfaces. The first fruits of the collaboration will be demonstrated at the United Nations World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 26th to September 4th. Information about the overall GISD effort can be found at http://www.opengeospatial.org/gisd. A detailed summary of the pilot will be available soon.

MEMBER CORNER

MapInfo's geospatial standards strategy is to be an active member of the Open GIS Consortium. We have been a member of OGC since 1995 and use this membership and the many OGC liaisons with many other standards organizations to keep current with all of these organizations. MapInfo recently lead the way to unite OGC and Location Interoperability Forum (LIF) at the geometry level, this will give a common technology base for all products from standalone data creation, through Web GIS and on to mobile applications for phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

OGC brings a cross-section of the spatial world together. By working with customers, universities, product integrators and other vendors on interface definitions, MapInfo increases our ability to interoperate with our customer's legacy products. MapInfo has participated in the definition of many of the current OGC specifications, starting with the first 'Simple Feature Access' specifications.

MapInfo has participated in OGC testbeds starting with the first Web Mapping Testbed (WMT1) and currently we are working on the Open Location Services (OpenLS) testbed. We find these testbeds valuable for our research and product development. For example MapXtend was released using GML and MapXtreme Java Edition uses the Coordinate Reference System recommendation as the basis of our CRS transformation code.

Sandra Johnson Principal Product & Technology Research Engineer MapInfo

NEW MEMBERS

The Open GIS Consortium welcomes our members who've joined us since April 2002:

Advanced Technology Solutions, Inc.
http://www.atsincorp.com
Associate

GFI (Gesellschaft für Informationstechnologie mbH)
http://www.gfi-gis.com
Associate

Stephen F. Austin State University
http://www.sfasu.edu


OGC IN THE NEWS

-OGC in the Press

Interoperability Enhances Planning and Response
http://www.geoplace.com/gw/2002/0205/0205ogc.asp Jeff Harrison looks at OGC's work and how it relates to planning and response work. Also check out Matt Ball's interoperability oriented editorial. GEOWorld, May 2002

PCI Geomatics and the OpenGIS Consortium http://www.pcigeomatics.com/corpinfo/opengis.html Arnold M. Hougham, PCI Geomatics Vice President of Sales, discusses the OpenGIS Consortium opportunities and challenges and its relationship with PCI Geomatics. GIM Magazine, April 2002.

What INSPIRE Must Inspire (pdf) http://www.geoinformatics.com/issueonline/issues/2002/april_2002/pdf_april/15_hecht.pdf Louis Hecht looks at INSPIRE and EC project aimed at making available relevant, harmonized and quality geographic information for the purpose of formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Community policy-making. GeoInformatics, April 2002.

Webraska launches new SmartZone Geospatial Platform 2.0 http://www.webraska.it/news/pres_rele/maisons_laffitte/20020503_api20.htm "Webraska has played an active role in the definition of the OGC/Open LS standard for geospatial middleware and will be among the first companies in the world to deliver a fully standards-compliant platform in the second half of 2002."

Intergraph Announces New GeoMedia 5.0 Product Suite http://www.intergraph.com/gis/newsroom/press02/gm5_rlsf.asp "A configurable application that demonstrates how to build an OGC Web Map Server (WMS) site is delivered with GeoMedia WebMap."

- OGC Press Releases

May 28, 2002 - OGC and AGILE Partner to Weave GI Educators and Students into the Future of GeoSpatial Interoperability
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=97

May 22, 2002 - OGC Issues Critical Infrastructure "Call for Communities" http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=96

May 13, 2002 - OGC Intergraph Mapping and GIS Solutions Becomes OGC Strategic Member http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=95

May 6 - OGC Seeks Industry Comment on Styled Layer Descriptor Specification http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020506/62587_1.html

EVENTS

June 10-14, 2002 London, England OGC Technical and Planning Committee Meetings hosted by Cadcorp http://www.opengeospatial.org/events/0206tc.htm

July 15-19, 2002 Girona, Spain, The International Summer School in GIS, promoted by UNIGIS and the European Masters in Geographic Information Science (EMGISc) Erasmus Project focuses on topics related to OpenGIS applications, aimed at providing a practical perspective on remote sensing or database management issues. http://www.giscampus.org/summerschool

July 22-26, 2002, Vancouver, B.C., Canada GML Developer Days Galdos Systems will hosting the first ever GML Developers' conference focusing on Geography Markup Language (GML) the emerging world geo-spatial data standard. OGC is sponsoring the event, which includes public and OGC only sessions. http://www.gmldev.org/

August 5-8, 2002, Champaign, IL, USA, GIS Standards Conference http://www.urban.uiuc.edu/ce/02events/standards/standards.html

September 9-13, 2002 Noordwijk, (Holland) The Netherlands OGC Technical and Planning Committee Meetings hosted by Shell International Exploration and Production, Inc.

OGC Events Calendar
http://www.opengeospatial.org/ogcEvents.htm

For further info on events please contact Greg Buehler,
gbuehler [at] opengeospatial [dot] org.

CONTACT

Please send comments and suggestions to:

Adena Schutzberg
Editor, OGC News
adena [at] opengeospatial [dot] org

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Copyright 2002 by the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.