ORACLE Passes First OpenGIS Conformance Test

Wayland, MA, USA, May 10, 1999: The OpenGIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today that Oracle is one of the first companies to pass conformance tests for OGC's OpenGIS Simple Features Specification for SQL.The tests prove whether or not a geospatial information system software product conforms to the OpenGIS Implementation Specifications that OGC has created through its industry consensus process. (See http://www.opengeospatial.org/testing for details of the conformance tests.)Oracle tested its Oracle Spatial product (versions 8.0.5 and 8.1.5), which allows seamless integration with enterprise client applications. The availability of OpenGIS Specification conformant server products that provide access to data via client queries on attributes and geometry sets the stage for achieving full geospatial interoperability across the industry. As client tools with OpenGIS Specification conformant interfaces become available from other vendors, geospatial interoperability between servers and clients and across applications will be possible.Kurt Buehler, OGC's Chief Operations Officer and Chair of the OGC Technical Committee, said, “This conformance test is an important milestone for the industry, and Oracle is to be congratulated for its hard work and commitment to the OpenGIS consensus process. As other software vendors implement OpenGIS Specification conformant interfaces in their products, users will begin to reap the benefits of open systems geoprocessing. Users can help by reminding vendors that OpenGIS interoperability interfaces are a high priority.”Jack Pellicci, Vice President, Oracle Service Industries, said, “We are proud to be the first Principle Member of the OpenGIS Consortium to pass conformance testing with our Oracle Spatial 8.0 and 8i products. This is another indication of Oracle's unwavering commitment to deploying open spatial technology across every GIS, Internet, and business application.”– end –“