Australian Spatial Interoperability Project Wins Award

Wayland, Mass., February 3, 2006 – The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) announced that OGC Australasia (OGC-A), an OGC subsidiary, sponsored the award winning Spatial Interoperability Demonstration Project (SIDP), a collaborative initiative between the public and private sectors of the Australian Spatial Information Industry. The effort received the Asia Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards (APSEA) Research and Innovation Award at the APSEA dinner on 24 September 2005. The APSEA Awards celebrate the finest achievements of spatial information enterprise and professionalism in that region of the world.SIDP was a collaborative initiative between the Australian Spatial Information Business Association (ASIBA) and OGC-A. The project was funded under the AusIndustry Innovation Access Program, with additional in-kind support provided by private sector companies and government agencies. The project brought together thirty government and non-government organizations to agree on and implement a common architecture for spatial interoperability based on open, international standards. It presented live demonstrations based on real scenarios in a nation-wide workshop series. By showing how spatial technology adds value in the emergency management, insurance and utilities sectors, it demonstrated the importance of providing on-demand geospatial services based on standards-implementing commercial products.Rob Starling from OGC-A received the highly prized ASIBA Chairman's Award for his outstanding contribution to the Australian Spatial Information Industry.The OGC® is an international industry consortium of more than 300 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower 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.”