GES 679Geospatial Standards Development

Julie Binder MaitraSeptember 19, 2009

Topics

• Introductions• Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI)• Standards organizations

Introductions

• Exchange of business cards• What do you do?• How is GIS relevant to your work?• Why did you enroll in the course?• What do you want to take away from the

course?

SDI - Definitions

• The means to assemble geographic information that describes the arrangement and attributes of features and phenomena on the Earth.

• “The technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to acquire, process, store, distribute and improve utilization of geospatial data”

SDI - Definitions

• “The policies, organizational remits, data, technologies, standards, delivery mechanisms, and financial and human resources necessary …”

• “the policies, technologies, standards and human resources necessary for the effective collection, management, access, delivery and utilization of geospatial data’.”

Metadata

GEOdata

Web portal/services/clearinghouseWeb portal/services/clearinghouse

Framework

StandardsPartnerships

SDI - Components

SDI - Components

• Network• Spatial Data• Data catalogues/clearinghouses/registries• Web services• An Integrating Framework

SDI - Framework

• Guidelines/policies• “Core” data • Standards

– Metadata– “Core” data– Other spatial data– Services

• Institutional capacity and partnerships

SDI – a visualization

Data

Users

Discovery

Processing

Support SDI Imperatives with Geospatial Information To…

– Fused, non-linear, rapid and accessible

– Fully-integrated, virtual, earth-referenced information/knowledge

Imagery Intelligence DataAeronautical DataTopographic Data

Hydrographic DataGeodetic Data

Terrain Elevation Data

Relevant Common Operating Picture

GEOINT Knowledge Foundation

DATA FUSION DATA FUSION Imagery

Intelligence

Imagery

GeospatialInformation

Transforming from… Legacy stove-piped, linear, and

time-consuming products Imagery, Imagery Intelligence,

Geospatial information

SDI Requirements

SDI in Practice• Ad hoc and developing SDIs have existed

for over 10 years. • Baseline of standards support SDI

implementation • Spatial data portals and clearinghouse

networks enable users to discover and access geographic data

• Standards-compliant metadata and catalogues/registries underpin spatial data portals and clearinghouse networks

• A growing number of commercial products conform to OGC standards

• Demonstrations and operating implementations show that interoperability is achievable

SDI in Practice

Discussion

• What are the components of an SDI?• What might be some “core” data sets?• Do SDIs have intrinsic value?• What geographic extent might an SDI

have? • What might be the “final state” of the

SDI? Is there a “final state”?

A global view

Regional/Multi-national

Poverty ReductionE-Gov & E-BusinessDisaster ManagementLand Tenure Health MonitoringMarket Development and… many others

User Applications drawing on & supporting SDIs

National

State, local

Source: Henry Tom

GlobalGSDI

Standards and Profiles for Infrastructure & Applications

Examples of SDIs

• Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI), www.gsdi.org

• Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) – continental, inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu

• National Spatial Data Infrastructure (U.S.) – national, www.fgdc.gov

Standards organizations

• Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)• INCITS Technical Committee L1, Geographic

information systems• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)• ISO, the International Organization for

Standardization• ISO Technical Committee 211, Geographic

information/Geomatics• Open Geospatial Consortium

Federal Geographic Data Committee

• The FGDC is an interagency committee that promotes the coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data on a national basis.

• Standards facilitate the development, sharing, and use of geospatial data.• The FGDC develops standards only when there are no equivalent externally

developed standards• “The FGDC develops geospatial data standards for implementing the NSDI,

in consultation and cooperation with State, local, and tribal governments, the private sector and academic community, and, to the extent feasible, the international community.”

• Non-Federal representatives may provide technical input and comment on FGDC standards   

• INCITS Technical Committee L1, Geographic Information Systems – “The work of INCITS L1 consists of adopting or adapting information technology standards and developing standards used in creating, defining, describing, and processing digital geographic data.”

• INCITS L1 is the means by which government agencies, private companies, and professional organizations participate in ISO and ANSI standardization activities for geographic information.

• INCITS L1 serves as the U.S. technical advisory group (TAG) to ISO Technical Committee 211 (ISO TC 211), Geographic information/Geomatics.

• The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has accredited The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) to develop standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

• INCITS comprises many technical committees, including

INCITS L1, which develop standards in specific topic areas of ICT.

INCITS L1 membersAmerican Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM)

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS)

Bentley Systems Inc

ESRI

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

George Mason University (GMU)

Lockheed Martin Corporation

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA)

Northrop Grumman

Oracle

SeiCorp

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Geological Survey

Is your organization represented on INCITS L1?

How to join INCITS L1• You may find information about joining

INCITS Technical Committee L1 through the INCITS website, www.incits.org

• Memberships run from December 1 - November 30: mark your calendars!

• ANSI is the U.S. member body of ISO, the International Organization for Standardization

• ANSI is a non-governmental organization• ANSI is not a standards development

organization; rather it accredits standards developers, certification bodies, and technical advisory groups (TAGs) to both ISO and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

• ANSI-accredited development organizations are frequently trade associations: for example, the Information Technology Information Council (ITIC) hosts the INCITS Secretariat.

• ANSI’s other roles include– Publishing notices of national adoption of standards and public

review of standards in the ANSI Standards Action newsletter.– Reviewing final draft standards through its Board of Standards

Review (BSR)• Standards developed through ANSI-accredited organizations such

as ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials) are allowed to bypass the BSR, based on their extensive history of standards development.

• ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards.

• ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 162 countries, with a Central Secretariat that coordinates the system: “one country, one vote”

• ISO is an NGO that bridges the public and private sectors. Many member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. Others have their roots in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations.

• ISO is not an acronym! It does not stand for “International Standardization Organization,” as translations into different languages would result in different acronyms. Whatever the country, whatever the language, the short form of the organization's name is always ISO.

• ISO comprises many technical committees, the most relevant to us being ISO Technical Committee 211, Geographic information/Geomatics

ISO TC 211Geographic information/Geomatics

… … building the foundation of the geospatial building the foundation of the geospatial infrastructure, brick by brick ...infrastructure, brick by brick ...

The goal of ISO/TC 211...... is to develop a family of international standards that will

• support the understanding and usage of geographic information• increase the availability, access, integration, and sharing of

geographic information• enable inter-operability of geospatially enabled computer systems• contribute to a unified approach to addressing global ecological and

humanitarian problems• ease the establishment of spatial data infrastructures on local,

regional and global level• contribute to sustainable development

Scope of ISO/TC 211• Standardization of digital geographic information.• This work aims to establish a structured set of standards for

information about objects or phenomena directly or indirectly associated with a location relative to the Earth.

• These standards may specify methods, tools and services for data management (including definition and description), acquiring, processing, analyzing, accessing, presenting, and transferring data in digital/electronic form between different users, systems and locations.

• These standards shall link to appropriate standards for information technology and data wherever possible, and provide a framework for the development of sector-specific applications using geographic data.

JAGJAGAG StrategyAG Strategy

WG 6 WG 6 Douglas O’BrienDouglas O’Brien

CanadaCanada

WG 7WG 7Antony CooperAntony Cooper

South AfricaSouth Africa

WG 9WG 9Hiroshi ImaiHiroshi Imai

JapanJapan

WG 10 WG 10 Sang-Ki HongSang-Ki Hong

KoreaKorea

WG 4WG 4Morten BorrebækMorten Borrebæk

NorwayNorway

ISO/TC 211 organization

Geospatial Geospatial servicesservices

ImageryImagery InformationInformationcommunitiescommunities

InformationInformationmanagementmanagement

AG OutreachAG Outreach

ChairmanChairmanOlaf ØstensenOlaf Østensen

SecretarySecretaryBjørnhild SæterøyBjørnhild Sæterøy

NorwayNorwayTMGTMG

TF 211/204TF 211/204Andrew Jones

Jinsoo You

Chairman

Henry Tom, Hans Knoop

John Herring

Jinsoo YouPaul Smits

TF 211/SC 24TF 211/SC 24Vacant

HMMGHMMG

PMGPMG

UbiquitousUbiquitousPublic AccessPublic Access

Serena Coetzee

ISO/TC 211 voting members

AustraliaAustriaBelgiumCanadaChinaCzech Rep.DenmarkEcuadorFinlandFranceGermany

HungaryItalyJapanRep. of KoreaMalaysiaMoroccoNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwayPeruPortugal

Russian FederationSaudi ArabiaSerbiaSouth AfricaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandThailandUnited KingdomUnited States of America

ISO/TC 211 non-voting members

ArgentinaBahrainBrunei DarussalamColombiaCroatiaCubaEstoniaGreeceHong KongIceland

IndiaIndonesiaIsl. Rep. of IranIrelandIsraelJamaicaKenyaMauritiusOmanPakistan

PhilippinesPolandRomaniaSlovakiaSloveniaTanzaniaTurkeyUkraineUruguayZimbabwe

External liaisons• CEOS, Committee on Earth Observation Satellites• DGIWG, Defence Geospatial Information Working Group• EuroGeographics• EuroSDR, European Spatial Data Research• ESA, European Space Agency• FIG, International Federation of Surveyors• GSDI, Global Spatial Data Infrastructure• IAG, International Association of Geodesy• ICA, International Cartographic Association• ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization• IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society• IHB, International Hydrographic Bureau • ISCGM, International Steering Committee for Global Mapping• ISPRS, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing • JRC, Joint Research Centre, European Commission • OGC, Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.• OGP, International Association of Oil and Gas Producers• PAIGH, Panamerican Institute of Geography and History

External liaisons• PCGIAP, The Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure

for Asia and the Pacific• PC IDEA, Permanent Committee on Spatial Data

Infrastructure for the Americas• SCAR, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research• UN Economic Commission for Africa• UN Economic Commission for Europe, Statistical Division• UNGEGN, United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical

Names• UNGIWG, United Nations Geographic Information Working

Group• UN FAO, Food & Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations• UPU, Universal Postal Union• WMO, World Meteorological Organization• CEN/TC 287, Geographic information• CEN/ISSS Workshop on Metadata for Multimedia

Information - Dublin Core• CEN/TC 278, Road Transport and Traffic Telematics

Internal liaisons• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24 Computer graphics and image processing• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31 Automatic identification and data capture

techniques• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 Data Management and Interchange• ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 36 Information technology for learning, education and

training • ISO/TC 20 /SC 13 Space data and information transfer systems• ISO/TC 59/SC 13 Organization of information about construction works• ISO/TC 69 – Applications of statistical methods• ISO/TC 154 Processes, data elements and documents in

commerce, industry and administration• ISO/TC 171 Document management application• ISO/TC 184/SC 4 Industrial data and global manufacturing languages• ISO/TC 204 Transport Information and Control Systems• ISO/TC 207 Environmental management • ISO/TC 241 Project Committee: Road-Traffic Safety Management

System• SCIT, The ISO Steering Committee for Image Technology• The Study Group on Sensor Networks

Special groups

• Advisory group on strategy

• HMMG – Harmonized Model Maintenance Group – harmonization of UML models

• Advisory group on outreach

• JAG – ISO/TC 211 / OGC Joint Advisory Group

• TMG – Terminology maintenance group

• PMG – Programme Maintenance Group• Task force to support convergence between relevant ISO/TC 204 and

ISO/TC 211 projects • Task force to support convergence between relevant JTC 1/SC 24 and

ISO/TC 211 projects

• OGC is an international consortium of vendors, content providers, integrators, other technology providers, government agencies and universities

• OGC develops advanced open systems standards and techniques in geoprocessing and related information technologies.

• OGC interface and encoding specifications enable interoperability among diverse geospatial data stores, services, and applications.

OGC VisionA world in which everyone benefits from geospatial information …

“Tenets”• Geospatial information should be easy to find• Once found, geospatial information should be easy to access or

acquire • Geospatial information from different sources should be easy to

integrate, combine, or use in spatial analyses• Geospatial information from different sources should be easy to

register, superimpose, and render for display. • Special displays and visualizations should be easy to generate,

even when many sources and types of data are involved. • It should be easy to incorporate into enterprise information systems

geoprocessing resources from many software and content providers.

Putting it all together

Organizational relationships

IETF / W3C

IT Infrastructure

FGDC Thematic data standards

OGC

Interface and Encoding

De

Fact

oD

e Ju

re

Domain Infrastructure

Functional relationships

ISO/TC 211

Conceptual modeling

Data spec methodologies

• Name the standards organizations discussed today

• Describe what each organization does• Describe organizational relationships among the

standards bodies discussed today• Describe functional relationships among the

standards bodies discussed today• What is the difference between de facto and de

jure standards?

Discussion

Future classes

• Standards processes and expectations• Standards reference models• Select geospatial standards

References

• FGDC, www.fgdc.gov• INCITS Technical Committee L1, Geographic

information systems, l1.incits.org• INCITS, www.incits.org• ANSI, www.ansi.org• ISO, www.iso.org• ISO TC 211, www.isotc211.org• Open Geospatial Consortium,

www.opengeospatial.org

(Ms.) Julie Binder Maitra

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

Chair, FGDC Standards Working Group

International Representative, INCITS Technical Committee L1,

Geographic Information Systems

Email: jmaitra@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648 4627 GMT -5 h

Web:

FGDC Standards: www.fgdc.gov/standards/

INCITS L1: l1.incits.org

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/juliebindermaitra

"We live in two worlds:

the world that we can measure with line and rule, and

the world that we feel with our hearts and imagination." - Leigh Hunt

Thank you!