OGC Issues a Request for Technology in Support of the Geographic Objects Initiative

Wayland, MA, USA, September 6, 2002 – The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) invites responses to a Request for Technology (RFT) for the Geographic Objects Initiative Phase 1 (GO-1). The RFT document is available for download at http://ip.opengeospatial.org/go1/index.html .The vision for the Geographic Objects Initiative is to define platform-independent and implementation-neutral interface models of specific geographic services or component objects. The specific Geographic Object interfaces to be modeled relate to mapping processes (render or query, for example) or an input or output of those processes (a coordinate or a map, for example). Creating high-level interface models to given Geographic Objects in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) will allow developers to take advantage of the valuable components on any development platform required. GO-1 sponsors and supporters, including government organizations in the United States, are seeking these models because they allow straightforward reuse of existing capabilities for new projects, an important goal of software systems development.The Geographic Objects Initiative aims to develop an open set of consistent, lightweight, language-independent interface models for describing, managing, rendering, and manipulating map displays, features, coordinate spaces and other topics that can support development of applications on multiple distributed computing platforms. These Geographic Objects will provide the building blocks that are necessary for cross platform operations. The first set of Geographic Objects interface models will be based on and leverage the knowledge in the existing OGC Web Services Implementation Specifications including the OpenGIS® Web Map Server Specification and the OpenGIS® Web Feature Server Specification as well as other sources identified during the GO-1 process. Once defined as models, the GO interface specifications will be available to programmers working in multiple software development and deployment environments.This RFT is soliciting information applicable to the Geographic Objects Initiative from the geospatial and information technology communities. The responses will be used to assess the current state-of-the-art and to plan the next stages of the GO-1 Initiative.Responses to the RFT are due no later than 5 pm EDT (2100 UTC) October 4, 2002. A GO-1 testbed Initiative, based on the results of this RFT, is planned for the winter of 2002/2003. Inquiries related to GO-1 should be addressed to Mr. Charles Heazel cheazel@opengeospatial.org .The Geographic Objects RFT is part of 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 220 companies, government agencies 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 www.opengeospatial.org .– end –“