Guide to the Role of Geospatial Standards Presented at the 4th Session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) UNGGIM Panel at Locate15 11 March 2015

UN-GGIM: inventory of issues develop a national, regional and global strategic framework for geospatial information; establish best practices in institutional arrangements, legal and common frameworks; build capability and capacity, especially in developing countries; assuring the quality of geospatial information; promoting data sharing, accessibility and dissemination; embracing trends in information technology; promoting geospatial advocacy and awareness; partnering with civil society and the private sector; and linking geospatial information to statistics. http://ggim.un.org/2nd%20Session/E-C20-2012-5%20Inventory%20of%20Issues%205%20July.pdf

UN-GGIM and International Standards 2/103 Inventory of issues to be addressed by the UN-GGIM Committee of Experts Concept proposed Suggestion by Technical Committee 211 (geomatics and geographic information) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC211) to put forward, jointly with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), a paper related to standard-setting issues in the international community New York, 13-15 August 2012 Second session of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management

UN-GGIM and International Standards Draft report submitted Second High Level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management Qatar National Convention Centre, Doha, Qatar, 4-6 February 2013 Full report Third Session of UN-GGIM Committee of Experts Cambridge, UK, 24-27 July 2013

Existing Standards and the Inventory of Issues

3rd Meeting of UNGGIM - Cambridge So in follow-up on the 4th point in the report from Cambridge. The secretariat has been working with OGC, ISO & IHO to develop a non-technical guide with the purpose of assisting adoption of standards in all nations. The result was……

UN-GGIM and International Standards Two formal reports submitted to UN-GGIM4 and a complementary paper: A guide to the role of standards in geospatial information management. Authored by OGC, ISO, and IHO Companion document on standards recommendations by tier. Authored by OGC, ISO, and IHO National Mapping Authority Perspective: International Geospatial Standards – Authored by Ordnance Survey and INEGI, Mexico Our colleagues will be giving further information on the Standards Guide and the Companion Document. In complement to the SDO work on these documents. The Joint chairs of the UNGGIM from UK & Mexico have developed a paper that provides both their experience in standards implementation, but also their advocacy for the use of standards within their National Spatial Data Infrastructures. Let me know give a brief overview of the key messages from the paper (of which printed versions are available)

International Organization for Standardization TC 211

The Guide & Companion Document

Purpose Articulate the critical role of standards in geospatial information management; Inform policy makers and program managers in Member States of the value in using and investing in geospatial standardization; and Describe the benefits of using “open” geospatial standards to achieve standardization, data sharing, and interoperability goals.

What, Why & How What is a Standard? Why are Standards important? What is an “open standard”? Why are Open Standards valuable? How are standards developed?

SDI Standardisation Maturity Model

The landscape of standardards developing organizations - SDOs ”… the nice thing about standards, is that there are so many of them to choose from…” Source: Andrew S. Tanenbaum, and others …? Equally, it can be said – there are so many SDOs, who’s who in this landscape?

A high-level classification – the landscape Many, like IHO, DGIWG, WMO, ICAO, but also OGC and ISO/TC 211 Domain related geospatial standards Generic geospatial standards ISO/TC 211, OGC, but also others … As with real landscapes, the SDO landscape is complex and not easy to describe, but we can make a try … Basic ICT standards and other cross-discipline standards W3C, OASIS, IETF, IEEE,ISO/IEC JTC1, OMG, etc.

The nice thing for you A huge amount of coordination efforts take place – fomal and informal Cross-organization membership is an important mechanism e.g. IEEE, OMG, OASIS, … are members of OGC IEEE, OMG, ISO/IEC JTC1 are members of ISO/TC 211 OGC and IHO are members of ISO/TC 211

Co-operation ISO/TC 211, OGC and IHO have been formally – and practically - co-operating since 1994. They also benefit from a range of people working actively in across organizations. ISO, OGC and IHO have been fomally co-operating since the birth of of IS/TC 211 and OGC in 1994. Co-ordination is secured both through formal mechanisms – like coordination groups – but, equally important, by common people working actively across the standards organizations.