The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has issued a call for sponsors of the 10^th annual OGC Web Services Testbed (OWS-10) (http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/initiatives/ows-10). Sponsors of OGC testbeds provide interoperability requirements that drive rapid development, testing and delivery of proven candidate standards into the OGC Standards Program. OGC standards reduce the business risks associated with the use, operation, influence and adoption of spatial information technologies within enterprises, and they directly improve collaboration between enterprises across government and industry throughout the world.

OWS-10 will build on the outcomes of prior OGC initiatives (http://www.opengeospatial.org/resource/demos), in particular the recent OWS-9 Testbed (http://www.opengeospatial.org/projects/initiatives/ows-9), which yielded:

-- Aviation: Modern, web-accessible Aeronautical Information Services that can adapt as technology changes.

-- Cross-Community Interoperability (CCI): Improved location search capability, improved ability to track data's origins, real-time fusion of data from multiple sensors, and a standard for a Global Gazetteer capable of real-time translation of spatial semantics to match, for example, "dead end street" with "cul-de-sac."

-- Security and Services Interoperability (SSI): Recommendations for geospatial Security Management, a way to automate the creation of implementable data schemas from abstract models, easier use of OGC Web Services, methods for more efficient design of architectures, and a standard that helps users manage large spatial databases that are being edited by intermittently-connected mobile device users.

-- OGC Web Services (OWS) innovations: New OGC compliance tests and improved interoperability for mobile device apps that use OGC standards in providing location services. 

OWS-10 will also explore new areas, including but not limited to: Decision Fusion (including Augmented Reality, Model Interoperability, Provenance in Workflows, and Linked Data); Sensor Web Enablement (including Internet of Things concepts); and Mobile Solutions, Points of Interest, Semantic Mediation, and Semantic Intelligence. OWS-10 scenarios will explore technical solutions that will be useful in addressing critical issues such as location privacy, data access policies and pricing.

OWS-10 Sponsor Meeting

Interested organizations are invited to participate in the first OWS-10 Sponsor Planning Meeting from 8-10 am on 17 January 2013 at the Esri campus in Redlands, CA. At this meeting, potential sponsors will review the OGC standards baseline, discuss OWS-9 outcomes, and capture initial OWS-10 requirements and plans. Sponsors of OGC Interoperability Program initiatives provide requirements, use/business cases and funding for OGC testbeds and pilot projects.

Participation in this planning meeting does not constitute a commitment to sponsor OWS-10. Sponsor and participant commitment will be part of a subsequent Request for Quotation / Call for Participation (RFQ/CFP) process. The OGC also welcomes the participation of other Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs), as SDOs' cooperation and SDO members' cross-participation are necessary to avoid overlapping work programs and future obstacles to interoperability.

If your organization is interested in this initiative and/or the planning meeting, contact Nadine Alameh at nalameh@opengeospatial.org or George Percivall at gpercivall@opengeospatial.org.

OWS-9 Demo

Interested organizations are also invited to attend the January 15 OWS-9 Testbed Demonstration and Exhibition, which has been organized as part of the OGC Technical Committee Meeting at the Esri campus in Redlands, 14-18 January 2012. Attendees at the January 15 OWS-9 Demonstration and Exhibition will witness firsthand the capabilities, results and value of the OGC’s collaborative testbed process.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 475 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OGC Standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.