OGC Elects Board of Directors

February 12, 2003, Wayland, MA, USA – The Open GIS Consortium's (OGC) biennial election of directors has been completed. Eight sitting directors have been re-elected and five new directors have been elected. New directors are nominated by the board and are elected by the OGC Planning Committee, which oversees implementation of OGC's technology development plan in accordance with strategic directions set by the board.OGC's policy is to attract directors to its board who represent an appropriate spectrum of professional and industry experience and who are able to objectively reflect the real requirements and movements of the market and community that OGC serves. OGC directors are elected as individuals and do not represent the organizations with which they are professionally affiliated.Re-elected OGC directors include: S.J. Camarata, Director, Corporate Strategies, ESRI; Carl Cargill, Director of Corporate Standards, Sun Microsystems; Robert Corell, Sr. Research Fellow, Environment and Natural Resources Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and Senior Fellow, Atmospheric Policy Program, American Meteorological Society; Michael Jackson, Director, Space Department, QinetiQ (formerly DERA-UK); Bob King, President, MSR, Inc.; Jack Pellicci, Brigadier General US Army, Ret., Group VP, Business Development Oracle Government, Education and Health, Oracle Corporation; Preetha Pulusani, President, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions; Akihiro Yamaura, General Manager, Spatial IT Business Unit, Mitsubishi Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.Retiring from the board after years of dedicated service to the Consortium are: Lawrence Fritz, Lockheed Martin; Emil Horvath, US Department of Agriculture, NRCS Information Technology Institute; Ulrich Neunfinger, consultant; and Fred Limp, University of Arkansas Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies.Newly elected directors are Jeffrey K. Harris, Deputy, Space Systems Company, Lockheed Martin; Mr. Bert J. Jarreau, Chief Technology Officer, National Association of Counties; Roberta Balstad Miller, Director, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), and Senior Research Scientist, Columbia University; Dr. Robert Moses, President and CEO, PCI Geomatics; and Mr. James R. O'Neill, TASC President, Northrop Grumman Information Technology.Jeffrey Harris is deputy to the Executive Vice President of Space Systems Company, a business unit of Lockheed Martin. The business unit designs, develops, and operates a full-range of launch systems, ground systems, remote sensing satellites, communications satellites, fleet ballistic missiles and missile defense systems for military, civil and commercial customers. Mr. Harris is responsible for Company strategy, integration of business unit plans, and technology roadmaps. He also serves as the corporate senior executive point of contact to National Security Community customers.Bert Jarreau is the Chief Technology Officer of the National Association of Counties (NACo), a national organization that represents county governments in the United States. The Association provides services including legislative, research, technical assistance, public affairs assistance, and enterprise services to its members. As CTO, Mr. Jarreau provides county governments the technology vision and leadership for developing and implementing IT initiatives. Before joining NACo, Mr. Jarreau was Director of Systems and Programming at NVR and served as Information Technology Manager at Ford Motor Land Services Corporation.Roberta Balstad Miller is the Director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), and a Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University. Dr. Miller's work focuses in the areas of science and technology policy and human interactions in global environmental change. She held positions with the Social Science Research Council, served as founding executive director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), and directed the Division of Social and Economic Science at the National Science Foundation. She received the National Science Foundation's Meritorious Service Award in 1993.Dr. Robert Moses is President and CEO of PCI Geomatics, a developer of image-centric geomatics software solutions. Dr. Moses has led PCI Geomatics with a successful investment and acquisition strategy for two decades and is a long-time supporter of OGC initiatives. In addition to his duties as CEO of PCI Geomatics, Dr. Moses has spent considerable time and energy lending his experience through advisory positions to various Canadian government bodies mandated with fostering the use and development of science and technology. Dr. Moses serves as a member of many public and private boards and councils.James O'Neill is President of Northrop Grumman Information Technology's TASC business unit, and is responsible critical, protected, custom synthesized information engineering products and services for the national and homeland security communities. Previously, he was senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Services Industries, where he led the company's sales and consulting groups in the communications and utilities sectors. Earlier in his career, Mr. O'Neill served as an Officer of Lucent Technologies and held positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, Lockheed Martin and Sanders.David Schell, OGC's President, commented, “I am very pleased that we have been able to assemble this slate of impressive candidates who reflect the most important values of the organization. OGC's Board of Directors is a very important part of the organization's process, providing strategic guidance, financial oversight and organizational guidelines for OGC operations. OGC directors provide professional and policy level credibility to the OpenGIS world movement.”The OGC board also includes three members of OGC's executive staff, David Schell, President & Chairman, Kurt Buehler, VP-CTO & Vice Chairman, and Jeffrey Burnett, VP-CFO. Board members serve for two years and are responsible for the finances of the corporation, defining the organization and process of the corporation, ensuring that the strategic plan of the corporation is most effectively shaped to achieve the corporate mission, appointing corporate officers and assuring that the corporation will operate within its current charter.OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 250 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 –“