OGC requests comment on charter for spatial services security standards working group

24 August 2015. Members of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) request comments on the draft charter for an OGC Open Web Services (OWS) Common Security Standards Working Group (SWG).

The OGC OWS Common Security SWG is being established to define a common way to make available to a client a description of the security framework(s) that control access to Web services that implement OGC standards. OGC Web Service standards are widely implemented in service interfaces to provide interoperable access to spatial data and spatial processing services. The SWG will not provide solutions to implement the frameworks, but will provide an implementation standard and a separate best practice or user guide for deployment options.

For users of spatial data, the risks of data loss and theft continue to grow as mobile tools, cloud computing and social media go mainstream. As OGC-based services move to these platforms, a Common Security extension for OGC services based on mainstream IT becomes critical.

The draft charter is available for review at portal.opengeospatial.org/files/64477. Comments should be sent via email to charter-requests@opengeospatial.org and are due by 23 September 2015. The OGC and the SWG welcome all interested parties.

The OGC is an international geospatial standards consortium of more than 510 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available standards. OGC standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org/contact.