1. 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

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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, July 2013

5. Existing Standards and the Inventory of Issues

6. 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……

7. 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)

8. International
Organization for
Standardization
TC 211

9. The Guide & Companion Document

10. 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.

11. 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?

12. SDI Standardisation Maturity Model

13. 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?

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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.