OGC Issues RFP for Feature Geometry

Liege, Belgium, April 4, 2001: OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announces the availability of the OpenGIS Feature Geometry Request for Proposals for public review. The document is available at: http://www.opengeospatial.org/techno/request.htm .Feature Geometry refers to the representation of the spatial extent of geographic objects in a GIS. The request aims to extend the interfaces in the OpenGIS Simple Features Implementation Specification, which gives diverse software systems an open, shared framework for describing features modeled with points, lines, and polygons. The new interfaces will build on the OpenGIS Simple Features Specification to address feature collections and more complex objects and concepts including curves and surfaces in 2D and 3D, arcs and circle interpolations, conics, polynomial splines, topology and solids. The interfaces will cover creation, querying, modifying, translating, accessing, fusing, and transferring geospatial information.In order to keep up with new and emerging technologies, the request invites support of XML, SQL, COM, CORBA, JAVA, and other distributed computing platforms and encoding mechanisms.John Herring, Architect, Spatial Products at Oracle Corporation notes that “proposals in response to this RFP will expand the already heavily used Simple Features Implementation Specification to include geometric data types that will:- enable interoperability between classical GIS, engineering and simulation applications, – extend geographic data to full 3 dimensional representations, and – support topological data structures that will enhance the usability and validity assurance of geographic data.In addition, the timing of this proposal aligns with activities of the OpenGIS Interoperability Program, which will for the first time allow for a direct path from OGC organized testbed activities and the issuance of OGC Implementation Specification.”The final specification, like the OpenGIS specifications already available, will promote interoperability between geospatial applications, provide software building blocks for developers and future specifications, and leverage existing OGC and other standards, such as those of the International Standards Organization, ISO.In OGC's consensus-based standards development process, an RFP can be the first step toward developing an interoperability specification. Letters of intent are due August 10, with final submissions due September 10, 2001. The resulting proposals will be reviewed by the OGC technical committee, harmonized and later put up for a vote as Implementation Specifications.OGC, an international consortium of more than 200 corporations, agencies and universities, coordinates collaborative development of the OpenGIS Specifications and collaborative business development to support full integration of geospatial data and geoprocessing resources into mainstream computing. Visit the OGC website at: http://www.opengeospatial.org .– end –“