The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) invites organizations to sponsor the next phase of the Federated Maritime Spatial Data Infrastructure (FMSDI) Pilot, a collaborative initiative focused on validating interoperable, standards-based approaches to maritime geospatial information sharing in complex operational environments.

Overview

Building on five successful pilot phases, FMSDI Phase 6 focuses on advancing the maturity of Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures by addressing dynamic data exchange, multi-domain access, metadata and semantic interoperability, and decision-making in data-constrained environments.

Using the Arctic as a representative application context, the Pilot will tackle some of the most challenging issues facing the global maritime geospatial community while developing implementation guidance and best practices that are broadly applicable worldwide.

Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures have advanced significantly through previous pilot phases, demonstrating the value of standards-based interoperability across land-sea domains, regions, and stakeholder communities.

However, several persistent challenges continue to limit their operational effectiveness, including sharing dynamic, real-time maritime information, enabling secure access across multiple operational domains, reconciling different metadata approaches, bridging data gaps at the land-sea interface, and supporting decision-making where trusted information may be incomplete or contested.

Rather than developing new foundational standards, FMSDI Phase 6 applies and validates existing standards and emerging good practices in operational maritime scenarios.

While related OGC initiatives such as Testbed-22 advance the underlying standards and technical frameworks, FMSDI Phase 6 demonstrates how those capabilities can be applied and validated in real-world maritime environments, producing practical implementation guidance and recommendations for the international maritime community.

To learn more about FMSDI Phase 6, including its objectives, challenge areas, workstreams, and expected outcomes, visit the FMSDI Phase 6 project page.

Why Sponsor FMSDI Phase 6?

Sponsors play a central role in shaping every OGC Pilot. By sponsoring FMSDI Phase 6, organizations can:

  • Influence maritime interoperability priorities that address real operational and strategic challenges.
  • Help advance Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures from documented Good Practices to validated Best Practices.
  • Collaborate with an international community of government, industry, academia, and research organizations working on Arctic and global maritime challenges.
  • Prototype and evaluate solutions in a collaborative, precompetitive research and development environment.
  • Help shape recommendations and implementation guidance delivered to OGC, the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), and the Joint Working Group on Marine Geospatial Information (JWGMGI).

Pilot Focus Areas

FMSDI Phase 6 will focus on six key areas that reflect priorities identified by the international maritime and geospatial community.

  • Dynamic maritime data exchange, including uncertainty, provenance, and fitness for purpose.
  • Secure multi-domain access across policy and classification boundaries.
  • Metadata and semantic interoperability across diverse communities and information models.
  • Decision support where authoritative data is incomplete, unavailable, or contested.
  • Arctic navigability, land-sea integration, and operational situational awareness.
  • Capacity building and implementation pathways that support broader adoption of validated Best Practices.

The Pilot will also coordinate with related OGC Innovation Program initiatives, including Testbed-22, to ensure complementary work on standards and technical frameworks informs operational validation within maritime scenarios.

How the Pilot Works

OGC Pilots bring sponsors, participants, and OGC staff together in a structured, collaborative initiative, typically lasting three to six months.

Sponsors help define the Pilot’s priorities and desired outcomes. OGC then issues a competitive Call for Participation (CFP), selects participants, manages contracts, facilitates technical collaboration, and oversees delivery throughout the initiative.

This collaborative model enables sponsors to focus on strategic priorities while OGC manages the complexity of coordinating multiple organizations and technical contributions.

Expected Outcomes

FMSDI Phase 6 is expected to deliver:

  • Operational demonstrations of interoperable maritime geospatial workflows.
  • Prototype implementations addressing priority challenge areas.
  • Engineering Reports documenting findings, lessons learned, and recommendations.
  • Identification of standards gaps and opportunities for future enhancement.
  • Practical implementation guidance supporting the continued evolution of Federated Marine Spatial Data Infrastructures.

Who Should Sponsor?

FMSDI Phase 6 will be of interest to organizations involved in:

  • Hydrography and nautical charting
  • Maritime transportation and port operations
  • National mapping and hydrographic agencies
  • Defense and security
  • Environmental monitoring
  • Polar and Arctic research
  • Marine spatial planning
  • Emergency management and disaster response
  • Standards development and geospatial technology

Next Steps

Organizations interested in sponsoring FMSDI Phase 6 are invited to complete the sponsorship interest form.

The sponsorship window will remain open for 45 days from the date of this announcement.

During this period, OGC will engage with prospective sponsors to understand their requirements, refine project priorities, and finalize the Pilot scope ahead of issuing the Call for Participation (CFP).