13 December 2012. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has issued acall for sponsors of the 10th annual OGC Web Services Testbed(OWS-10) (http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/initiatives/ows-10). Sponsors of OGCtestbeds provide interoperability requirements that drive rapid development,testing and delivery of proven candidate standards into the OGC StandardsProgram. OGC standards reduce the business risks associated with the use,operation, influence and adoption of spatial information technologies withinenterprises, and they directly improve collaboration between enterprises acrossgovernment and industry throughout the world. 

OWS-10 will build on the outcomes of prior OGC initiatives (http://www.opengeospatial.org/resource/demos), in particularthe recent OWS-9 Testbed(http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/initiatives/ows-9), which yielded:

— Aviation: Modern, web-accessible AeronauticalInformation Services that can adapt as technology changes.

— Cross-Community Interoperability (CCI): Improvedlocation search capability, improved ability to track data's origins, real-timefusion of data from multiple sensors, and a standard for a Global Gazetteercapable of real-time translation of spatial semantics to match, for example,”dead end street” with “cul-de-sac.”

— Security and Services Interoperability(SSI):Recommendations for geospatial Security Management, a way to automate thecreation of implementable data schemas from abstract models, easier use of OGCWeb Services, methods for more efficient design of architectures, and astandard that helps users manage large spatial databases that are being editedby intermittently-connected mobile device users.

— OGC Web Services (OWS) innovations: New OGCcompliance tests and improved interoperability for mobile device apps that useOGC standards in providing location services. 

OWS-10 will also explore new areas, including but not limited to: DecisionFusion (including Augmented Reality, Model Interoperability, Provenance inWorkflows, and Linked Data); Sensor Web Enablement (including Internet ofThings concepts); and Mobile Solutions, Points of Interest, Semantic Mediation,and Semantic Intelligence. OWS-10 scenarios will explore technical solutionsthat will be useful in addressing critical issues such as  location privacy, data access policies andpricing.

OWS-10 SponsorMeeting

Interested organizations are invited to participate in the first OWS-10Sponsor Planning Meeting from 8-10 am on17 January 2013 at the Esri campus inRedlands, CA. At this meeting, potential sponsors will review the OGCstandards baseline, discuss OWS-9 outcomes, and capture initial OWS-10requirements and plans. Sponsors of OGC Interoperability Program initiativesprovide requirements, use/business cases and funding for OGC testbeds and pilotprojects.

Participation in this planning meeting does not constitute a commitmentto sponsor OWS-10. Sponsor and participant commitment will be part of asubsequent Request for Quotation / Call for Participation (RFQ/CFP) process.The OGC also welcomes the participation of other Standards DevelopingOrganizations (SDOs), as SDOs' cooperation and SDO members' cross-participationare necessary to avoid overlapping work programs and future obstacles tointeroperability.

If your organization is interested in this initiative and/or theplanning meeting, contact Nadine Alameh at nalameh@opengeospatial.org or GeorgePercivall at gpercivall@opengeospatial.org.

OWS-9 Demo

Interested organizations are also invited to attend the January 15 OWS-9 Testbed Demonstration and Exhibition, which has beenorganized as part of the OGCTechnical Committee Meeting at the Esri campus in Redlands, 14-18 January2012. Attendees at the January 15 OWS-9 Demonstration and Exhibition willwitness firsthand the capabilities, results and value of the OGC'scollaborative testbed process.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 475 companies,government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating ina consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGCStandards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web,wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. Visit the OGC websiteat http://www.opengeospatial.org/.