Wayland, MA, March 1, 2004. The Open GIS Consortium (OGC) announced a new membership category, the Small Company Commercial Membership. This membership category is designed to make it easier for small companies to be involved in the OGC standards process.To qualify for the Small Company Commercial Membership, companies must provide OGC with documentation showing that their annual revenue is less than US$500,000. The annual membership fee for Small Company Commercial Membership is US$2,000. The fee for standard Associate Membership, for companies with higher revenues, is US$4,000.Small Company Commercial Members are granted non-voting participation in the Technical Committee and have full access to all the ongoing work of the OGC. They can participate in the working groups, special interest groups, and subcommittees of the OGC Technical Committee. Current Associate Members who may qualify for Small Company Commercial Membership will be able to take advantage of the new membership level upon their next renewal.Jeff Burnett, Chief Operating Officer of OGC, said, “The Small Company Commercial Membership represents an excellent value for small companies. Participating in working groups, special interest groups and sub-committees of the Technical Committee gives companies exceptional opportunities to develop knowledge, to establish contacts amongst our 250+ members, and to participate in the specification development process. We look forward in particular to participation by the smaller solution providers who are beginning to integrate OGC-compliant spatial components into the information systems of their government and corporate customers.”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 http://www.opengeospatial.org .– end –“