OGC Press Releases

Wayland, MA, USA, May 25, 2001 - The Open GIS Consortium's (OGC) European subsidiary, the Open GIS Consortium (Europe) Ltd. (OGCE) and the Landesvermessungsamt (Surveying and Mapping Agency) of the German State of North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) have agreed to collaborate on a Pilot Project that uses OpenGIS specification conformant commercial products. NRW and the City of Cologne will execute the pilot and OGCE will advise and assist as needed. This will be the first Pilot Project for which OGCE has provided interoperability planning services. NRW is unique in Germany because data for land ownership is managed not at the state level, but by large cities and counties. The variety of software tools used across the state has provided extensive technological freedom, but has made data sharing difficult. The goal of the project is to provide an integrated method to share and exploit spatial information acquired from distributed sources located across government sites in Cologne, and to provide feedback into the OGC Specification Program. The Pilot will involve common access and display of data from several internal GIS databases, including land ownership records, base map information from the Landesvermessungsamt itself and several other departments in the city government. This project highlights several hallmarks of interoperability. The participating departments will not need to change their existing software, but rather extend it, to work with other software. The architecture proposed will be built in part using local expertise, assuring the development of in country experience to grow the project further. Finally, NRW Pilot Project is a key implementation of OGC specifications in a local government setting, an important step for communities worldwide. Heinz Brüggemann, of the Ministry of the Interior and member of the GI-Committee of North Rhine Westphalia, explains the vision of the project. "The project is part of a state-wide initiative of NRW to establish typical solutions for network integrated geographic information systems. The technology will serve the NRW state, city and county offices as parts of a general geographic data infrastructure of the state called GDI NRW. Within this infrastructure, Internet access will be available to all public and private geographic information available in NRW. All participants have signed a Common Manifesto for Interoperability and have committed to apply the standards of the Open GIS Consortium and the ISO/TC 211 whenever they are available." The collaboration will begin May 28 in Cologne. Demonstrations of the outcome are expected later this year. OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. OGC (Europe) Limited, an OGC subsidiary, was established to better address European interoperability needs, and to increase OGC presence for European members. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Wayland, MA, May 18, 2001, The Open GIS Consortium (OGC) announced today the successful launch of its Military Pilot Project Initiative, Phase 1 (MPP-1). MPP-1, which began April 5 and will run through September 2001, has been organized to test and exercise newly developed OGC specifications in a near-operational user environment. At the end of a Pilot, major customers will see real world proof of interoperability between software products from different vendors enabled by interfaces implementing OpenGIS Specifications. MPP-1 is a collaborative effort that tests the interoperability of commercial geoprocessing products in the defense and intelligence domain. Findings contribute to the refinement of the OpenGIS® Specifications that define the products' interoperability interfaces. For example, MPP-1 will help enhance OpenGIS Specifications to accommodate three-dimensional photo-realistic terrain views over the Internet. The Initiative's sponsors, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and In-Q-Tel, have provided funding and operational requirements for the pilot. Cubewerx, Intergraph, Skyline Software, Syncline, Lockheed Martin, Compusult, University of Alabama in Huntsville, 3i, Ionic Software, Polexis, and Laser-Scan have been selected to participate in MPP-1 by providing technology solutions that adhere to Sponsor requirements and employ OGC interfaces. In MPP-1, users simulate defense and intelligence operations that access online intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data sources via restricted access intranets and the Internet. The emphasis is on expanding users' ability to discover, visualize, and add value to geodata by expanding their network of web-based interoperable geoprocessing resources. MPP-1 exercises many of the open interfaces developed in OGC's Web Mapping Testbeds. In recent months many vendors have released commercial products that implement these interfaces, increasing a users' ability to find and immediately use data that was previously unavailable because of differences between geoprocessing systems. Open interfaces remove many barriers to data and GIS service use. A growing number of US Department of Defense Coordinating Organizations and projects are becoming involved in MPP-1. Coordinating Organizations are using software "toolkits" to access a restricted section of OGCN, OGC's new OGCNetwork web resource. OGCN is an online forum for information exchange and a portal to on-line resources such as servers, service registries, clients, schemas, DTD's (digital instructions for interpreting and presenting XML-encoded geospatial data, i.e. OGC's GML), tutorials, reusable software components, user documentation, and links to related sites. Many military Coordinating Organizations currently use commercial products that vendors are now "opening up" with interfaces that implement OpenGIS Specifications. This makes it easy for these organizations to connect to MPP-1's network of spatial resources. Knowledge gained in the Pilot will enable Coordinating Organizations to continue testing and deploying interoperable products after MPP-1 ends. Dan Specht, Project Manager at TEC representing ERDC in MPP-1, said, "The testbed process we use in MPP-1 is an extremely cost-effective way to develop interoperable software in the short run, and we believe that it will result in lower maintenance costs in the long run." The companies providing technology and expertise for MPP-1 all share the objective of making their products work smoothly with other vendors' products in a heterogeneous network environment. They all share the ultimate goal of selling their products and services broadly, to civil government and commercial customers as well as military customers. OGC seeks additional public sector and private sector sponsors to participate in current and planned Interoperability Initiatives. New proposals are welcomed. OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available, widely implemented geoprocessing interface and protocol specifications. These standards "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Wayland, MA, USA, May 10, 2001 - Dr. Carl Reed has joined the Open GIS Consortium as Director of Specification Programs. Dr. Reed joins the OGC with over 30 years experience in the GIS and location services industries. Prior to joining the OGC, Dr. Reed was a senior executive at Intergraph, Genasys and Autometric. Dr. Reed will manage the OGC Technical Committee process, focusing on the mission of developing formal OpenGIS Specifications. He will also facilitate the strategic planning initiatives of the OGC Planning Committee. Dr. Reed will oversee the management and publication of technical documentation, support OGC's Interoperability Program and integrate the specification program with all other aspects of OGC business. David Schell, President of OGC, said, "Carl Reed has had a distinguished career in the GIS market, having led significant development projects, and for many years being one of the industry's leading proponents of open systems. He brings great talent and energy to OGC at a critical time in our company's growth, and I believe will have a tremendous positive influence on our continued success." Dr. Reed's recent consulting experience includes work on the integration of geospatial technology into location services, strategic planning, GIS software architecture design and review, and specifications and standards for interoperability. Before opening his consulting practice, Dr. Reed served as Intergraph's VP of geospatial marketing where he helped define the company's vision for enterprise, Internet and location-based services. Before Intergraph, Dr. Reed served as President and Chairman of the Board of Genasys Americas and was also Chief Technology Officer for the global Genasys organization. Dr. Reed is widely published and is a popular speaker at GIS related conferences and policy workshops. He has presented papers at hundreds of conferences and has been invited to lend his expertise to NSDI Framework Workshops, the Adelaide Policy Summit, the GIM Advisory Board, and the Digital Government Policy Workshop Dr. Reed holds a Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo with a focus on systems design and architecture for GIS. He is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Wayland, MA, USA, April 16, 2001 - OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announced today the start of the OGC Civil Works Technology Insertion (CTI) Project. This international project is a new type of interoperability initiative, an Insertion Project, that focuses on expanding an organization's interoperability capacity by laying the groundwork for open implementations. The CTI Project, sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), will grow interoperable web mapping technology from research into practical application to support enterprise GIS solutions for Corps Civil Works Divisions and Districts. The CTI Project will also play a key role in growing OGC's budding OGC Network (OGCN). The Network is an infrastructure that supports building, testing and sharing of interoperable data and services using OGC specifications. OGC and its members use OGCN during its testbeds and pilot projects. OGCN can to be used by any developer or organization with an interest in geospatial interoperability. OGCN services and data are available to support the open exchange of geospatial information on local, national and international spatial infrastructure development projects. The CTI Project will integrate multiple map servers with online services from OGCN. Two different commercial map servers at the Corps Mississippi Valley Division and the New Orleans District Office will be updated to conform to the OGC Web Map Server Interface Specification. Some of the information on these servers will then be incorporated into a registry of online services available on OGCN. In addition, the CTI project will leverage a variety of standards-based commercial technology developed and tested during OGC Web Mapping Testbeds and the OGC Upper-Susquehanna-Lackawanna (USL) Pilot Project. The Web Mapping Testbeds formed the basis for the existing Web Mapping Specifications while the ERDC sponsored USL Pilot tested prototype online capabilities for multi-source geospatial discovery and visualization. This process, from testbed, to pilot, to insertion project is expected to be a popular path for organizations seeking the full benefit of spatial interoperability. OGC invites technology vendors, government agencies, international organizations and other interested parties to participate in the CTI and future Insertion Projects and OGC Network activities. Please contact Mr. Jeff Harrison, OGC Interoperability Program Manager, by telephone at (703) 628-8655, or by e-mail at jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org for more information. The OGC Civil Works Technology Insertion Project is part of OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by Initiative sponsors. OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at: http://www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Liege, Belgium, April 4, 2001: OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announces the availability of the OpenGIS Feature Geometry Request for Proposals for public review. The document is available at: http://www.opengeospatial.org/techno/request.htm . Feature Geometry refers to the representation of the spatial extent of geographic objects in a GIS. The request aims to extend the interfaces in the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification, which gives diverse software systems an open, shared framework for describing features modeled with points, lines, and polygons. The new interfaces will build on the OpenGIS Simple Features Specification to address feature collections and more complex objects and concepts including curves and surfaces in 2D and 3D, arcs and circle interpolations, conics, polynomial splines, topology and solids. The interfaces will cover creation, querying, modifying, translating, accessing, fusing, and transferring geospatial information. In order to keep up with new and emerging technologies, the request invites support of XML, SQL, COM, CORBA, JAVA, and other distributed computing platforms and encoding mechanisms. John Herring, Architect, Spatial Products at Oracle Corporation notes that "proposals in response to this RFP will expand the already heavily used Simple Features Implementation Specification to include geometric data types that will: - enable interoperability between classical GIS, engineering and simulation applications, - extend geographic data to full 3 dimensional representations, and - support topological data structures that will enhance the usability and validity assurance of geographic data. In addition, the timing of this proposal aligns with activities of the OpenGIS Interoperability Program, which will for the first time allow for a direct path from OGC organized testbed activities and the issuance of OGC Implementation Specification." The final specification, like the OpenGIS specifications already available, will promote interoperability between geospatial applications, provide software building blocks for developers and future specifications, and leverage existing OGC and other standards, such as those of the International Standards Organization, ISO. In OGC's consensus-based standards development process, an RFP can be the first step toward developing an interoperability specification. Letters of intent are due August 10, with final submissions due September 10, 2001. The resulting proposals will be reviewed by the OGC technical committee, harmonized and later put up for a vote as Implementation Specifications. OGC, an international consortium of more than 200 corporations, agencies and universities, coordinates collaborative development of the OpenGIS Specifications and collaborative business development to support full integration of geospatial data and geoprocessing resources into mainstream computing. Visit the OGC website at: http://www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Liege Belgium, April 4, 2001. OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announced today that Shell International Exploration and Production Inc. (Houston, TX) joined OGC recently as a Principal Member. Approximately 80% of all data transactions in the upstream oil and gas business involve the location component of that data. This makes geospatial data the most frequently used data category in this business sector. As a technological leader in the oil and gas business sector, Shell views software integration as a means to increase effectiveness and efficiency of business processes. Though Shell develops custom software for certain critical applications, Shell would prefer to use commercially available 'plug-and-play' software components for functionality that is routine for its business, such as the handling of geospatial data. To accomplish this goal, Shell has chosen to collaborate with OGC and its members to achieve the OGC vision of "complete integration of geoprocessing into mainstream computing". Shell has joined OGC as a principal member to influence and accelerate the development of the geoprocessing specifications it sees as necessary, and to encourage software companies to implement these specifications where possible. David Schell, President of OGC, said, "Shell will lead the oil and gas industry in introducing requirements for interoperability that will almost immediately begin to influence the software vendors serving that industry. There are special interoperability requirements in oil and gas exploration and production, but here, as in most other industries, the dominant trend is toward standards-enabled integration with more general purpose kinds of software." OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities working together to develop geoprocessing standards. OGC's OpenGIS Specifications establish common geoprocessing interfaces and protocols that "geo-enable" the Web, so developers can make complex geographic and non-graphic spatial information accessible and useful for all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at: http://www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

Liege, Belgium, April 4, 2001: OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announces the availability of the OpenGIS Feature Geometry Request for Proposals for public review. The document is available at: http://www.opengeospatial.org/techno/request.htm . Feature Geometry refers to the representation of the spatial extent of geographic objects in a GIS. The request aims to extend the interfaces in the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification, which gives diverse software systems an open, shared framework for describing features modeled with points, lines, and polygons. The new interfaces will build on the OpenGIS Simple Features Specification to address feature collections and more complex objects and concepts including curves and surfaces in 2D and 3D, arcs and circle interpolations, conics, polynomial splines, topology and solids. The interfaces will cover creation, querying, modifying, translating, accessing, fusing, and transferring geospatial information. In order to keep up with new and emerging technologies, the request invites support of XML, SQL, COM, CORBA, JAVA, and other distributed computing platforms and encoding mechanisms. John Herring, Architect, Spatial Products at Oracle Corporation notes that "proposals in response to this RFP will expand the already heavily used Simple Features Implementation Specification to include geometric data types that will: - enable interoperability between classical GIS, engineering and simulation applications, - extend geographic data to full 3 dimensional representations, and - support topological data structures that will enhance the usability and validity assurance of geographic data. In addition, the timing of this proposal aligns with activities of the OpenGIS Interoperability Program, which will for the first time allow for a direct path from OGC organized testbed activities and the issuance of OGC Implementation Specification." The final specification, like the OpenGIS specifications already available, will promote interoperability between geospatial applications, provide software building blocks for developers and future specifications, and leverage existing OGC and other standards, such as those of the International Standards Organization, ISO. In OGC's consensus-based standards development process, an RFP can be the first step toward developing an interoperability specification. Letters of intent are due August 10, with final submissions due September 10, 2001. The resulting proposals will be reviewed by the OGC technical committee, harmonized and later put up for a vote as Implementation Specifications. OGC, an international consortium of more than 200 corporations, agencies and universities, coordinates collaborative development of the OpenGIS Specifications and collaborative business development to support full integration of geospatial data and geoprocessing resources into mainstream computing. Visit the OGC website at: http://www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

March 28, 2001: OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announced the release today of a Request for Technology (RFT) for a major OGC Web Services Initiative. The RFT is available at http://ip.opengeospatial.org/ows/index.html . Responses to this RFT, along with financial commitments from sponsor organizations will help determine the focus areas that are undertaken as part of this initiative scheduled to commence in September 2001. OGC Web Services are envisioned as an evolutionary, standards-based framework that will enable seamless integration of a variety of online geoprocessing and location services. OGC Web Services will allow distributed geoprocessing systems to communicate with each other using technologies such as XML and HTTP. OGC Web Services will provide a vendor-neutral interoperable framework for web-based discovery, access, integration, analysis, exploitation and visualization of multiple online geodata sources, sensor-derived information, and geoprocessing and location capabilities. The OGC Web Services Initiative is part of OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program designed to deliver prototype interoperable technologies and proven candidate specifications into OGC's Specification Development Program. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by Initiative sponsors. The content of the OGC Web Services Initiative has grown out of previous OGC Testbeds and Pilot Projects. It represents an appreciation of the need to consolidate what OGC and its members have learned in the previous Interoperability Initiatives, with emphasis on moving toward a more coherent model of heterogeneous services and clients interoperating in a distributed setting. The OGC Web Services Initiative RFT provides details on several proposed focus areas: -- Web Mapping Testbed Phase 3 - will consolidate the progress made in previous testbeds with work accomplished in the OGC Web Services Initiative and refine Basic and General Services Models. This activity will also investigate future web services for visualization, feature and coverage data access, and other services. -- 3D / 4D - will extend OGC's Geographic Markup Language (GML), Simple Feature Access, and Web Feature Server specifications, with the goal of bringing time, topology, and more complex geometric representation capabilities into these OGC data access and manipulation services. -- Web Based Exploitation - will focus on an open e-commerce architecture that dynamically connects earth imagery and other geospatial information providers, maintainers, and users in collaborating communities, providing users with interoperable Web-based exploitation capabilities. -- Sensor Web - will produce open specifications for information gathering from distributed, heterogeneous, dynamic information sensors, and Web resources through common gateways and interfaces ("Ask it, task it, see it"). Sensor Web will result in common interfaces (and an XML-based Sensor Markup Language) for managing sensor information and metadata independent of application. One goal is transparent integration of data from earth imaging platforms and ground collection systems (e.g. water quality monitoring, space-based imaging, GPS correction stations, etc.). -- Geoanalysis and Decision Support - will develop interoperable service chaining (common expression and execution) and service metadata extensions for complex spatial models (e.g., science models). Goals include extending the OGC Basic Services Model and exercising key concepts in ISO 19119. -- Information Communities - will create a new technical standards approach to overcoming the problem of semantic differences in geospatial data and associated metadata. It will focus on supporting "Information Communities" using OGC Web Services, fielding data models across communities, and building tools for application schema creation, mapping, and migration. Interested participants must reply to this RFT by May 14, 2001. Please contact Mr. Jeff Harrison, OGC Interoperability Program Manager, by telephone at (703) 628-8655, or by e-mail at jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org if you are interested in being a sponsor of this initiative, or for more information about participation in the OGC Web Services Initiative. OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --

March 22, 2001. OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announced today that Mr. Phillipe Busquin, the European Commission's Commissioner for Research, will be the main speaker at the OGC Evening Reception on April 4 at the Colonster Castle in Liege, Belgium. This reception is part of OGC's program of Technical Committee and Planning Committee meetings scheduled for 2 - 5 April in Liege, and hosted by IONIC Software, an OGC member company. Mr. Busquin is one of 20 Commissioners on the EC and is the individual who oversees all of the EC's research programs. His responsibilities include: European co-operation inside the European Union's research programs, research conducted by the European Union's Joint Research Center (JRC), and the development of research policies and strategies. This event offers an exciting opportunity for multinational discussion of ways to promote the adoption and use of OGC's OpenGIS geoprocessing interoperability specifications throughout Europe, and with other nations around the globe. Private sector, government, and university members of OGC have cooperated in a seven-year international effort to establish open software interfaces that enable transparent communication of geographic information between diverse information systems. Previously, digital communication of such information has been obstructed by complexities related to different earth coordinate systems and map projections and incompatible and often proprietary data formats and processing approaches. OGC's success in developing consensus-based solutions to these technical obstacles has begun to impact research, commerce, government, consumers, and citizens. Mr. Busquin's talk is expected to focus on the benefits of geospatial information and technology interoperability on European Commission sponsored programs. There will be a press conference in the morning on April 4 to inform members of the media about OGC's work and the significance of this event. Details on OGC meetings can be found at http://www.opengeospatial.org/events/nexttc.htm. Information on Mr. Busquin can be obtained at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/index_en.htm Reception schedule A reception line will be followed by dinner at 7:00pm. During dinner, the Rector of the University of Liége, Professor Willy Legros, will make introductory remarks and will welcome the group to the University. After dinner, David Schell, OGC's president, and Mr. Ulrich Neunfinger, President and CEO of SICAD Geomatics and a member of the OGC Board of Directors will speak briefly. Mr. Vincent Dessard of IONIC Software will introduce Mr. Phillip Busquin of the European Commission, who will speak on the impact of geospatial information and technologies on global research and European programs that promote the New Information Society. A question and answer period will immediately follow. Other invitees to the reception include: Jean Meyer-Roux of the Joint Research Center, senior officials from the US Geological Survey, the European Space Agency, and the American Meteorology Society. About OGC OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/ . About Ionic IONIC Software is an experienced software company with large expertise in the development of Java components to create the most innovative, flexible and interoperable distributed applications. IONIC team has a worldwide recognition as the very best in the industry, with unique expertise in distributed systems and Java Components for Web Mapping. Visit IONIC at http://www.ionicsoft.com . -- end --

March 9, 2001: The Open GIS Consortium, Inc (OGC) announced today its intent to release a Request for Technology (RFT) for a major Web Services Initiative. The RFT will be available on the OGC website ( www.opengeospatial.org ) by March 21, 2001. This set of six planned activities will extend OpenGIS standards, enabling freer access to web services that process geographic information. The Web Services Initiative is part of OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program that delivers proven candidate specifications into OGC's OpenGIS Specification Development Program. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by the Initiative's sponsors. The Web Services Initiative will build on the results of previous OGC testbeds and pilot projects and the work of the OGC Technical Committee and other standards organizations. Major focus areas of the Web Services Initiative are: -- Web Mapping Testbed, Phase 3 will consolidate the progress made in previous testbeds with work accomplished in OGC Web Services Initiative threads. This activity will also investigate future web services for visualization, feature and coverage data access, and other services. -- 3D / 4D will extend OGC's GML (XML encoding of geospatial data), Simple Feature Access, and Web Feature Server specifications, with the goal of bringing time, topology, and more complex geometric representation capabilities into these OGC data access and manipulation services. -- Geoanalysis and Decision Support will develop interoperable service chaining (common expression and execution) and service metadata extensions for complex spatial models (e.g., science models). Goals include extending the OGC Basic Services Model and exercising key concepts in ISO 19119. -- Information Community Enablement will create a new technical standards approach to overcoming the problem of semantic differences in geospatial data and associated metadata. It will focus on supporting "Information Communities" using OGC Web Services, fielding data models across communities, and building tools for application schema creation, mapping, and migration. Candidate Information Communities include Earth Observation, Natural Resources, Disaster Management and Public Safety, Telecommunications, Defense and Intelligence, and Location Based Services, each of which is represented by an OGC Special Interest Group. -- Web Based Exploitation will focus on an open e-commerce architecture that dynamically connects earth imagery and other geospatial information providers, maintainers, and users in collaborating communities, providing users with interoperable Web-based exploitation capabilities. -- Sensor Web Enablement will produce open standards for Web-optimized information gathering from distributed, heterogeneous, dynamic information sensors, and Web resources through common gateways and interfaces ("Ask it, task it, see it"). It will result in common interfaces (and an XML-based Sensor Markup Language) for managing sensor information and metadata independent of application. One goal is transparent integration of data from earth imaging platforms and ground collection systems (for water quality, GPS correction stations, dynamic attribution sensors on lakes and dams, etc.). Denice Shaw, Director of the Environmental Monitoring for Public Access & Community Tracking (EMPACT) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said, "Our ability to achieve further advancements in the protection of the environment depends on the ability to rapidly integrate accurate information from the field. While we have seen significant progress in industry technologies to support environmental monitoring, we must encourage additional interoperability to assure rapid integration of technologies to meet our mission at the lowest possible cost. As a new member of OGC, we will work with other OGC members to help improve environmental sensor interoperability, and to advance interoperability throughout the business process." If you are interested in more information or if you would like to be a sponsor of the Web Services Initiative, please contact Mr. Jeff Harrison, OGC Interoperability Program Manager by telephone at (703) 628-8655, or by e-mail at jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org . OGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, enabling technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org . -- end --