OpenGIS RFP and RFIs

[Lance McKee]

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Contact: Lance McKee
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Open GIS Consortium, Inc.
35 Main Street, Suite 5
Wayland, MA 01778
Tel: 508-655-5858
Fax: 508-655-2237
lmckee at opengis.org



OpenGIS RFP and RFIs Mark Progress Toward Interoperable Geoprocessing


Wayland, MA, August 30, 1996.  The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) today
announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) for engineering specifications that
implement the simple geometry components of the OpenGIS Specification
("OGIS") for major distributed computing platforms, such as OLE/COM, CORBA,
the Internet, and ODBC.  This major OGC milestone reflects two facts: 1)
Basic work has been completed on the OpenGIS Abstract Specification,
sufficient to specify common methods for accessing geodata in heterogeneous
network computing environments; and 2) An RFP process has been implemented
as a way to cause OpenGIS Specification compliant products to be brought to
market in as short a time as possible.

In response to this first RFP, software vendors in OGC will submit
competing specifications for review by the OGC Technical Committee. Letters
of intent to submit are due October 29, 1996 and proposed specifications
are due December 2, 1996. On a set schedule, this will lead to adoption of
a single OpenGIS Implementation Specification for each distributed
computing platform, and these will be integrated across platforms as
completely as possible. The reason for making the RFP public is to ensure
that all interested parties in the geoprocessing industry have an
opportunity to submit technology for review.

Also on August 30, OGC released two Requests for Information (RFIs). One
RFI solicits information on available technologies and suggested interfaces
required to imagery-enable geospatial applications and tools.  This
information will help OGC's Earth Imaging Working Group develop a set of
standard interface specifications that will support transparent network
access to heterogeneous image data and also communication between
heterogeneous image processing resources. Responses are due November 15,
1996. The other RFI solicits information on digital catalog architectures,
geospatial catalog requirements, and other technologies relevant to geodata
discovery in networked environments. Responses are due December 16, 1996.
The RFIs will ensure that the OGC Technical Committee is fully aware of the
entire industry's needs and capabilities related to two technology areas
that will be addressed by subsequent OpenGIS Specification RFPs.

The RFP, the OpenGIS Abstract Specification, and the imagery and catalog
RFIs can be viewed and downloaded from OGC's Web site,
http://www.opengis.org.

                               - end -


Lance McKee
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Open GIS Consortium, Inc.
35 Main Street, Suite 5
Wayland, MA  01778
USA
tel: 508-655-5858
fax: 508-655-2237
lmckee at opengis.org