OGC Testbed-22 brings together sponsors, technology providers, government agencies, academia, and the broader geospatial community to collaboratively prototype, integrate, and validate standards-based geospatial technologies.

Building on the success of previous OGC Testbeds, Testbed-22 will explore emerging technologies and address real-world interoperability challenges through collaborative research and development. The initiative provides a collaborative environment for organizations to evaluate new approaches, prototype solutions, and help advance OGC Standards.

About OGC Testbeds

OGC Testbeds are among OGC’s key collaborative research and development initiatives. Typically conducted over the course of a year, Testbeds are funded by multiple sponsors who work together to advance leading-edge concepts and address complex, forward-looking interoperability challenges.

Each Testbed brings together sponsors, participants, and OGC staff to prototype and validate geospatial technologies while producing practical outcomes that inform future standards development and implementation.

How Testbed-22 Works

Testbed-22 follows OGC’s collaborative research model.

Sponsors identify priority challenges and operational requirements. OGC works with sponsors to refine those requirements into technical work items, while participants are selected through an open Call for Participation (CFP) to develop and demonstrate interoperable solutions.

Throughout the initiative, OGC facilitates requirements refinement, architecture design, technical coordination, and execution. Outcomes typically include prototypes, demonstrations, engineering reports, and recommendations that support future standards development.

Focus Areas

Testbed-22 is expected to explore a range of interoperability challenges across multiple geospatial domains, including:

GEOINT Imagery Media for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (GIMI)

Advancing interoperability for intelligence workflows, including motion imagery and the Spectral NITF Implementation Profile (SNIP).

Environmental Data Retrieval (EDR) API Enhancement

Advancing the Environmental Data Retrieval API for operational use cases, including:

  • LiDAR point cloud data extraction
  • Bathymetric and water column data extraction
  • Moving algorithms to an EDR subset

SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC/STAPI) Evolution

Improving the discovery and access of geospatial assets.

Lunar Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and Digital Twins

Supporting interoperability for lunar and off-planet systems and digital twins.

GeoBIM Integration

Advancing interoperability between geospatial and Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems.

Next Generation Conformance and Testing

Exploring new approaches to conformance testing.

Metadata Interoperability

Advancing interoperable metadata practices, including:

  • Extension of capabilities based on NSG Metadata Foundation (NMF) conformance testing tooling, including ISO 19115 and FGDC.
  • Metadata convergence and DCAT.
  • Marine metadata harmonization in coordination with the Joint IHO–UN-GGIM Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information.

Why Testbed-22 Matters

As geospatial technologies continue to evolve, organizations increasingly require interoperable solutions that work across domains, systems, and operational environments.

Testbed-22 provides a collaborative framework to explore emerging technologies, validate standards-based approaches, and address interoperability challenges through practical implementation and experimentation.

The initiative helps accelerate the development of OGC Standards while providing participants with opportunities to collaborate on real-world solutions alongside experts from government, industry, and academia.

Participation

Organizations can engage with Testbed-22 in a variety of ways throughout the initiative, including as sponsors, technology participants, or contributors to technical discussions.

Opportunities to participate, including Calls for Sponsors and Calls for Participation (CFPs), will be announced as the initiative progresses.

Related Links: