OGC Newsletter - June 2002

June 2002

CONTENTS
Presidents Message
News From the London Meeting
Open Group Conference
What's New on the OGC Website
Interoperability 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

OGC and the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI)

The GSDI advances through the growth of cooperative relationships and cooperation-supporting technologies. It is not the product any particular organization, but a global response to a flow of new capabilities. OGC is actively seeking to partner with national SDI efforts and various organizations around the world to facilitate this response.

The OGC contribution to SDI continues to be a consensus process that results in deployed interoperable geospatial technology and data. The OGC approach to fostering interoperability is based on the development and commercial implementation of OpenGIS Specifications for interfaces and, in the case of Geography Markup Language (GML), an XML encoding for spatial data. Products that implement OpenGIS Specifications can help SDI stakeholders achieve technology interoperability, data interoperability, and improved semantic interoperability that enhance communication and cooperation among SDI stakeholders.

Because our consensus process involves people from industry, government, and universities, this process creates closer association and cooperation among critical GSDI players. Our pilot projects, for example, demonstrate and help deploy new technical capabilities, but they also draw people and organizations together into lasting relationships that help build the GSDI from the bottom up as well as the top down.

Almost all OGC initiatives have an international cast of sponsors and participants, but some current initiatives are global in their main purpose. The Geographic Information for Sustainable Development Initial Capability Pilot (GISD-ICP), for example, serves decision-makers working on sustainable development problems, with an initial focus on increasing interoperability of sustainable development information and applications in Africa. A number of African data center managers and technologists attended a GISD session and other OGC Technical Committee sessions in London, June 10-13. One result of their participation was that the Natural Resources Special Interest Group agreed to make sustainable development central in its charter, providing a longer-term forum for discussion of requirements and opportunities for advancing interoperability.

An abundance of commercial products interoperating through interfaces that implement OpenGIS Specifications now greatly expand our ability to support global, national and regional SDI efforts. We look forward to participating in more national SDI programs such as those we currently support in Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK and the European Union. Through their common technology framework and expanding network of formal and informal relationships, such programs represent a major component of the GSDI.

David Schell, President, OGC

NEWS FROM THE LONDON MEETING

The 41st OGC Technical and Planning Committee meeting was held in London during the second week of June. The meeting was sponsored by OGC member Cadcorp and held in meeting facilities supplied by the University of London. In addition to the normal Technical Committee Special Interest Group (SIG) and Working Group meetings, there were several special meetings. These included the first Europe SIG to be held in some time. The group gathered to discuss the current status of efforts such as INSPIRE and AGILE, two major European projects that involve OGC and our members. There was also a special meeting on the GISD (Geographic Information for Sustainable Development) Initiative. Special guests from five African nations participated in this meeting to learn about the OGC process and to meet potential OGC member participants in GISD.

Other key decisions, discussions, and issues included:

- A special ad-hoc meeting was held to resolve consistency issues between OGC specifications and the Location Interoperability Forum Mobile Location Protocol Application Programming Interface (LIF MLP API).

- A special ad-hoc meeting was held to continue discussing and resolving issues related to harmonization of OGC geometry, GML, ISO 19118, and ISO 19107.

- The Web Feature Server (WFS) Revision working group met and made considerable process towards a review-ready version 1.0.

- In order to be responsive to the requirements of sharing OGC in-progress work with other key standards and specifications partners, such as the LIF and ISO, the TC and the PC voted to allow release of the draft interface specifications being developed in the OGC Location Services Initiative when a two week review period is completed.

- The TC and PC voted that the Style Layer Descriptor (SLD) interface specification, along with the comments received during the comment period, be made available to the OGC membership and that a TC electronic vote be initiated to move SLD to an adopted OGC specifications.

- The TC and PC voted to release document 02-07r2 (Units of Measure Use and Definition Recommendations) for an electronic vote for acceptance as an official OGC approved technology specification, once the edits are complete.

- The TC and PC voted to move the Measurements and Observations IP Report to public discussion paper status. Once posted to the OGC public web site, a six week review and comment period will begin.

- The TC and the PC voted to make the Web Coverage Service (WCS) IPR (document 02-024) a public OGC Discussion Paper, superceding a previous WCS Discussion Paper, and to begin a six week review and comment period.

- The TC recommended to the PC that a conformance testing framework for Grid Coverages, submitted by Cadcorp, be accepted as OGC technology for conformance testing. The PC is reviewing the recommendation and an electronic vote is in progress.

- The Planning Committee approved release of the New OGC Code of Conduct.

Carl Reed, Executive Director, Specification Program

OPEN GROUP CONFERENCE

Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee will set the stage for high-profile case studies on Web Services, including Alan Leidner's look at New York's needs and goals for GIS-related Web Services, at The Open Group's upcoming conference. The conference on "Boundaryless Information Flow: The Role of Web Services" will be held in Boston July 22-26. Carl Reed, PhD, Executive Director for the Open GIS Consortium Specification Program, will describe the current OGC Web Services-related activities.

http://www.opengroup.org/boston2002/

WHAT'S NEW ON THE OGC WEBSITE

The following products were added to the list of implementing products
http://www.opengeospatial.org/cgi-bin/implement.pl

Cogent Logic Corporation
http://www.xchainj.com
Product Name: XchainJ Specification: GML 2.0

Active Knowledge GmbH
Product Name: RasDaMan Specification: WMS 1.1.0

InfoTech Enterprises
http://www.infotechsw.com
Product Name: Geologic Map Server Specification WMS 1.1.1

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.

- Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI)

The Open GIS Consortium issued a Call For Communities (CFC) that provides an opportunity for local, state, or national government agencies, transnational organizations, academic groups, non-government organizations, or private sector companies who use, own, operate, develop, study or equip Critical Infrastructure systems to participate in a series of hands-on, collaborative engineering efforts (Pilot Projects). The aim is to test the effectiveness of new standards, which support Web-based sharing and use of geospatial information.

Because infrastructure involves geographically distributed resources (physical assets and people) organizations that cooperate to build, maintain and protect critical infrastructure must be able to share, analyze, and display geospatial information. The Call for Communities is proving to be successful, with 35 local communities, universities, State and Federal agencies responding with an interest in participating in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI).

Discussions are underway with several sponsors for the initial and additional Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative projects. The first Request for Quotation is expected in late summer or early fall.

- OGC Web Services (OWS-1.2)

The OGC Web Services-1.2 (OWS - 1.2) had a successful kick off the week of May 20th. This is may well be the largest Initiative OGC has managed, with 21 different participant organizations. The progress has been rapid and on target, with Sponsors, Architects, Participants and OGC Staff working closely together, generating tremendous progress toward standardization. The entire OWS - 1.2 team will meet for a series of face-to-face meetings July 29-31 in the Northern Virginia.

- Conformance and Interoperability Test and Evaluation (CITE)

The Conformance and Interoperability Test and Evaluation (CITE) Initiative is intended to provide the geospatial industry (consumers and vendors) a methodology and tools which will test conformance to OGC web services specifications and to determine whether products that conform are interoperable with one another. An RFQ for the CITE Initiative will be released in late June. CITE has three focus areas: a Planning and Feasibility Study, development of a Conformance Engine, Scripts and Guidelines, and development of a CITE Portal and Reference Implementations.

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

MEMBER CORNER

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, is a global provider of collaborative software solutions that enable our users to create, manage and publish architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) content. Our software solutions are used to design, engineer, build and operate large constructed assets such as roadways, bridges, buildings, industrial and power plants and utility networks.

When a new asset is contemplated, planners use spatial technologies to study environmental, demographic, and other factors. Then the asset must be engineered, constructed, and operated. Geoengineering gives architecture, engineering and construction its spatial context, and synthesizes AEC and GIS data over the life of the asset. The OpenGIS specifications help us to improve collaboration and data sharing between the planner, engineer, and other participants throughout the asset lifecycle. We believe that implementation of the simple feature model's SQL protocol, the Web Map Server (WMS) specifications, and Geography Markup Language (GML) are important steps in our commitment to interoperability between GIS and AEC solutions.

Carey Mann
Vice President
Industry and Product Marketing
Bentley Systems, Inc.

NEW MEMBERS

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

Applied Geographics, Inc.
http://www.appgeo.com
Associate

FORWISS (Bavarian Research Centre for Knowledge-Based Systems)
http://www.forwiss.de
University

SPOT IMAGE
http://www.spot.com
Associate

United Nations
http://www.un.org
Principal

OGC IN THE NEWS

-OGC in the Press

Web Services Are the Future of Geoprocessing
http://www.geoplace.com/gw/2002/0206/0206opng.asp
"The best technology news of the decade is 'Web Services'", Louis Hecht, GeoWorld, June 2002

Intergraph Ups Ante in GIS Consortium
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0610/tec-gis1-06-10-02.asp
Brian Robinson, Federal Computer Week, June 10, 2002 "We see an inevitable growth in interoperability within the industry in general," said Ignacio Guerrero, vice president of Intergraph's mapping department."

Cadcorp Gains Another OpenGIS Conformance Certificate
http://www.cadcorp.com/3rdogccertificate.htm

- OGC Press Releases

Jun 20, 2002 - OGC and Columbia Earth Institute Partner to Explore Interoperability
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=102

Jun 18, 2002 - Successful OGC Demonstration Launches FEMA Hazard Mapping Framework
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=101

Jun 14, 2002 - Ron Lake Receives OGC's Gardels Award
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=100

Jun 04, 2002 - NASA Now a Strategic Member of OGC
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=99

Jun 04, 2002 - Federal Geographic Data Committee Chooses OGC Strategic Membership
http://www.opengeospatial.org/press/?page=pressrelease&year=0&prid=98

EVENTS

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.

July 22-26, 2002, Boston, MA, The Open Group conference: "Boundaryless Information Flow: The Role of Web Services"

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.

December 9-13, 2002 Thousand Oaks, California OGC Technical and Planning Committee Meetings

OGC Events Calendar

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.