Press release

OGC Announces Spatial Law and Policy Summit

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) will hold a Spatial Law and Policy Summit at The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center on October 7, 2009.Professionals from government and the private sector whose work involves laws and policies related to geospatial technology are invited to register and attend.The Summit will be chaired by OGC director and Executive Committee member Kevin Pomfret, a Richmond, Virginia based attorney who has written and spoken extensively on spatial law and technology.To register, visit the OGC Spatial Law and Policy Summit website at:http://www.gita.org/events/ETS/ogc_ets.aspThe OGC® is an international consortium of more than 385 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards.These standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled.

Wayland, Mass., September 10, 2009. The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) will hold a Spatial Law and Policy Summit at The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center on October 7, 2009. Professionals from government and the private sector whose work involves laws and policies related to geospatial technology are invited to register and attend.

This unprecedented event will feature a keynote talk by Robert W. Corell, Vice President of Programs at The Heinz Center. Noted for his role in climate science research, Dr. Corell has served as a Senior Policy Fellow at the Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society and as a Senior Research Fellow in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Speakers and panelists will include:
— Gordon Chinander, GIS Coordinator for the Metropolitan Emergency Services Board, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.
— Hugh N. Archer, former Director Kentucky Department of Natural Resources
— Steve Wallach, NGA and member of the U.S. National Geospatial Advisory Council
— Kara John, Vice President – Intellectual Property & Privacy at DMTI Spatial Inc.
— Jim Simon, Founding Director of the Microsoft Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments
— John Moeller, former Staff Director at the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

These experts and others will discuss legal and policy issues associated with growth in consumer and business applications of geospatial systems, software and services. As the speakers will explain, in many cases the existing legal and policy framework is inadequate to provide governments, businesses and consumers clear guidance on these issues.

The Summit will be chaired by OGC director and Executive Committee member Kevin Pomfret, a Richmond, Virginia based attorney who has written and spoken extensively on spatial law and technology.

To register, visit the OGC Spatial Law and Policy Summit website at:
http://www.gita.org/events/ETS/ogc_ets.asp

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 385 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. These standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.