5.2 Externalliaison organizations to ISO/TC211
211
Examples for initiatives of the Interoperability Program include "Web Mapping
Testbeds", the "Geospatial Fusion Services Pilot Project", and the German "North
Rhine Westphalia Pilot Project (NRWPP)". The role ofOGC in these projects was to
coordinate the development work of their members.
5.2.2.3 Relation ofthe OGC to ISOITC211
The OGC and the ISO/TC211 (Geographie information / Geomatics) were established almost simultaneously in the early nineties. Both were aimed at the international standardisation of geographie information and both accomplished it with different backgrounds in tradition and thinking. The OGC is a mainly US-based
industry-oriented consortium. The ISO/TC2Il was proposed by Canada in order to
link the European traditions with work in other parts of the world. The Open GIS
Consortium aims at the efficient development of joint solutions among the members
of the consortium while the goal of ISO-standards is long term, generic solutions developed under a democratic participation of all interested parties.
The concurrent development of two independent suites of standards in the same
domain is not feasible for practical solutions. In addition, it means a heavy waste of
resources because one of the two standards will sooner or later fall out favour. Overall, the field of geographie information is small compared to other businesses such as
the automotive industry or the money market.
Originally, the OGC was only an external liaison member to the ISO/TC2ll as
were many others. The OGC and the ISO/TC2ll formally signed a cooperative
agreement in 1998 wherein the ISO/TC2ll adopted OGC specifications and published them as ISO-standards. Conversely, the OGC has the right to publish the ISOstandards under the OGC-cover. In order to monitor the matters rising from the
agreement, a co-ordination group was established. This group facilitates the smooth
running of the agreement, monitors the liaison on the work item level, and functions
as a clearinghouse.
In practice the alignment of the work of both organizations is not a simple task.
The intentions of both organizations and the formal process of the standard's development are not fully compatible. A simple, but not always applied, border separates
the abstract standards (being the domain of ISO) from the Implementation Specifications (being the domain of the OGC).
The ISO-19100 standards that are not abstract have been adopted from the OGc.
They are the ISO 19128 (Web Map server interface), the ISO 19136 (Geographie
Markup Language), and the ISO 19139 (Metadata - Implementation Specification).
It is sometimes questioned whether ISO should use its name for non-abstract standards. Most of the Implementation Specifications are living documents that evolve
according to the users' needs. It might happen that the International Standard being
published by ISO becomes outdated by the time the formal processes are complete.
During that time, the OGC and their member companies may already have considerably advanced the implementation and the documentation in a later version.
The cooperative agreement aligns the milestones of the standard developments of
ISO and of the OGc. The following table depicts only an approximate relationship
because the concepts of the development stages do not precisely match.
211
Examples for initiatives of the Interoperability Program include "Web Mapping
Testbeds", the "Geospatial Fusion Services Pilot Project", and the German "North
Rhine Westphalia Pilot Project (NRWPP)". The role ofOGC in these projects was to
coordinate the development work of their members.
5.2.2.3 Relation ofthe OGC to ISOITC211
The OGC and the ISO/TC211 (Geographie information / Geomatics) were established almost simultaneously in the early nineties. Both were aimed at the international standardisation of geographie information and both accomplished it with different backgrounds in tradition and thinking. The OGC is a mainly US-based
industry-oriented consortium. The ISO/TC2Il was proposed by Canada in order to
link the European traditions with work in other parts of the world. The Open GIS
Consortium aims at the efficient development of joint solutions among the members
of the consortium while the goal of ISO-standards is long term, generic solutions developed under a democratic participation of all interested parties.
The concurrent development of two independent suites of standards in the same
domain is not feasible for practical solutions. In addition, it means a heavy waste of
resources because one of the two standards will sooner or later fall out favour. Overall, the field of geographie information is small compared to other businesses such as
the automotive industry or the money market.
Originally, the OGC was only an external liaison member to the ISO/TC2ll as
were many others. The OGC and the ISO/TC2ll formally signed a cooperative
agreement in 1998 wherein the ISO/TC2ll adopted OGC specifications and published them as ISO-standards. Conversely, the OGC has the right to publish the ISOstandards under the OGC-cover. In order to monitor the matters rising from the
agreement, a co-ordination group was established. This group facilitates the smooth
running of the agreement, monitors the liaison on the work item level, and functions
as a clearinghouse.
In practice the alignment of the work of both organizations is not a simple task.
The intentions of both organizations and the formal process of the standard's development are not fully compatible. A simple, but not always applied, border separates
the abstract standards (being the domain of ISO) from the Implementation Specifications (being the domain of the OGC).
The ISO-19100 standards that are not abstract have been adopted from the OGc.
They are the ISO 19128 (Web Map server interface), the ISO 19136 (Geographie
Markup Language), and the ISO 19139 (Metadata - Implementation Specification).
It is sometimes questioned whether ISO should use its name for non-abstract standards. Most of the Implementation Specifications are living documents that evolve
according to the users' needs. It might happen that the International Standard being
published by ISO becomes outdated by the time the formal processes are complete.
During that time, the OGC and their member companies may already have considerably advanced the implementation and the documentation in a later version.
The cooperative agreement aligns the milestones of the standard developments of
ISO and of the OGc. The following table depicts only an approximate relationship
because the concepts of the development stages do not precisely match.