OGC Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative Moves Forward With Strong Industry Commitments

Wayland, MA, USA, January 17, 2003 – Four industry leaders, Autodesk, BAE SYSTEMS, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions and Northrop Grumman Information Technology (IT) have committed significant resources to the Open GIS Consortium's (OGC) Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI). CIPI aims to test the application of interoperable technology to meet critical infrastructure protection needs for coordination of geospatial data and services between national, state, provincial and local governments and commercial and non-government organizations. The four organizations are providing support throughout the multipart CIPI program. Their dedication of resources and leadership to OGC's processes related to CIPI benefit the companies themselves, the geospatial and information technology communities, and ultimately the world.”Autodesk is very committed to helping the government in the defense of national infrastructure through our Homeland Security Initiative and as part of the OGC's Critical Infrastructure and Protection Initiative,” said Pierre Lemire, CTO for Autodesk's GIS Solutions Division. “We are proud to dedicate project management resources to the development of interoperability programs and industry standard specifications.” Autodesk has been an OGC member since 1994, moving to a Principal Membership and most recently to Principal Plus Membership status. Autodesk has been an active member, most recently participating in the OGC Web Services Initiative.Leonard Hawkins, Vice President, Research and Engineering for BAE SYSTEMS Integrated Systems is convinced that the CIPI focus on “common use” of geospatial standards will provide a positive foundation for Homeland Security. “Interoperability allows us to serve our customers by providing key services that are quick to implement and easy to adapt as needed. These are precisely the qualities needed to effectively manage critical infrastructure.” BAE SYSTEMS is a longtime active member of OGC, joining in 1995 as a Technical Member, and upgrading to Strategic Membership in 2001.BAE SYSTEMS has provided significant expertise in enterprise architecture, which is an important part of CIPI. The company's Lou Rose has Chief Architect responsibility over all of CIPI and is the Chief Architect for CIPI-1. BAE SYSTEMS' Arliss Whiteside received OGC's third annual Kenneth G. Gardels Award in 2001 and Terry Idol currently serves as Director of Operations for the OGC Interoperability Program and manager of the CIPI Initiative.Intergraph has taken an active role in the CIPI program from its inception, sharing a common goal with OGC. Intergraph has provided a dedicated staff resource to work with OGC as the Director of the Communities Working Group. The goal is to help establish common interfaces that will ultimately enable local communities to be able to provide access to their data quickly and easily in the event of a crisis situation.”Intergraph shares the same fundamental beliefs as the CIPI program,” said Preetha Pulusani, president, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions. “In embracing this initiative, we play a significant role in moving geospatial technology into mainstream IT enterprise systems and breaking the barriers that have held islands of data captive. This standards-based initiative will allow essential information to be shared through easy-to-use tools such as the Web and will build the basis of a geospatial data infrastructure for communities that need to collaborate.”Northrop Grumman IT recognizes infrastructure protection as a “burning issue” of national importance and sees it as a driving force for developing interoperable geoprocessing solutions that will be make a difference to government, industry and citizens. According to John Olesak, Northrop Grumman IT TASC's Director for Imagery and Geospatial Systems, “CIPI is an opportunity to work in an inter-sector collaborative environment to test and deliver specifications that will help planners, managers and most importantly responders have the geospatial capability to more effectively protect our nation's critical infrastructure assets.”By sponsoring and supporting CIPI, Northrop Grumman IT contributes raw technology foundations and establishes the building blocks for geoprocessing technology architectures that will become key components of enterprise solutions within the United States and around the world. Northrop Grumman IT is currently a Strategic Member, having moved to this level since joining in 1996.OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program that rapidly delivers proven candidate specifications into OGC's Specification Program, where they are formalized for public release. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by the Initiative's sponsoring organizations. Questions about the Interoperability Program should be addressed to Mr. Jeff Harrison, Executive Director, jharrison@opengeospatial.org , (703) 491-9543.OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing 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 www.opengeospatial.org .– end –“