technology transfer. Standards help to remove technical barriers to trade leading to
new markets and economic growth for the industry (ISO 2015a).
According to ISO/IEC 2382:2015b, Information technology – Vocabulary, interoperability is defined as follows: “The capability to communicate, execute programs,
or transfer data among various functional units in a manner that requires the user to
have little or no knowledge of the unique characteristics of those units” (ISO 2015b).
One way to understand the relationship between standards and interoperability is that
standard is the approach to ensure the interoperability among the agrogeoinformatics community members.
Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants, and fungi for food,
fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants, and other products used to sustain and enhance life
(International Labour Organization 1999). The standards that cover these aspects of
agriculture are actually very comprehensive. Since this book is on agrogeoinformatics, the standards and interoperability further introduced in this chapter
will have a focus on information technology that applies to the data and services
collected, analyzed, and shared in these aforementioned agricultural activities.
5.2 Standard Organizations
Standards are drawn up at the international, regional, and national levels. Common
structures and cooperation agreements are the key to ensure the organization and
coordination of work at these three levels. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are the representative international, regional, and national standard
organizations.
5.2.1 ISO
The ISO is an independent, nongovernmental international organization with a
membership of 161 national standardization bodies. Through its members, it brings
together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to
global challenges. The ISO officially began its operations on February 23, 1947. The
ISO maintains a hierarchy governance structure, and the technical committees are
responsible for the standard development. The ISO now has 778 technical committees and subcommittees which take care of standards development. During the last
70 years, the ISO has published over 22,041 International Standards covering almost
all aspects of technology and manufacturing, including those on agricultural
activities.
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Y. Bai
new markets and economic growth for the industry (ISO 2015a).
According to ISO/IEC 2382:2015b, Information technology – Vocabulary, interoperability is defined as follows: “The capability to communicate, execute programs,
or transfer data among various functional units in a manner that requires the user to
have little or no knowledge of the unique characteristics of those units” (ISO 2015b).
One way to understand the relationship between standards and interoperability is that
standard is the approach to ensure the interoperability among the agrogeoinformatics community members.
Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants, and fungi for food,
fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants, and other products used to sustain and enhance life
(International Labour Organization 1999). The standards that cover these aspects of
agriculture are actually very comprehensive. Since this book is on agrogeoinformatics, the standards and interoperability further introduced in this chapter
will have a focus on information technology that applies to the data and services
collected, analyzed, and shared in these aforementioned agricultural activities.
5.2 Standard Organizations
Standards are drawn up at the international, regional, and national levels. Common
structures and cooperation agreements are the key to ensure the organization and
coordination of work at these three levels. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN), and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) are the representative international, regional, and national standard
organizations.
5.2.1 ISO
The ISO is an independent, nongovernmental international organization with a
membership of 161 national standardization bodies. Through its members, it brings
together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market-relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to
global challenges. The ISO officially began its operations on February 23, 1947. The
ISO maintains a hierarchy governance structure, and the technical committees are
responsible for the standard development. The ISO now has 778 technical committees and subcommittees which take care of standards development. During the last
70 years, the ISO has published over 22,041 International Standards covering almost
all aspects of technology and manufacturing, including those on agricultural
activities.
68
Y. Bai