First of new OGC APIs approved as an OGC standard: OGC API - Features - Part 1: Core

OGC APIs usher in a new age for location information on the web, enabling a much simpler way to share and access location information that is consistent with the architecture of the Web. This API, the first of many, specifies the fundamental API building blocks for interacting with geospatial features.

6 November 2019: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is excited to announce that the OGC Membership has approved the first in its suite of OGC API standards, OGC API - Features - Part 1: Core. As such the Standard is available to download and implement completely free of charge.

OGC APIs usher in a new age for location information on the web, enabling a much simpler way to share and access location information that is consistent with the architecture of the Web. OGC API standards define modular API building blocks to spatially enable Web APIs in a consistent way. The OpenAPI specification is used to define the API building blocks.

The OGC API family of standards is organized by resource type. The OGC API - Features multi-part standard specifies the fundamental API building blocks for interacting with ‘features’ - i.e., digital representations of objects of interest in the real world. 

The complete OGC API - Features standard suite provides API building blocks to create, modify, and query features on the Web. The suite is comprised of multiple parts, each of them a separate standard. This initial part, the "Core," specifies the core capabilities and is restricted to fetching features where geometries are represented in the coordinate reference system WGS 84 with axis order longitude/latitude. Additional capabilities that address more advanced needs will be specified in additional parts. Such capabilities will include support for other coordinate reference systems, creating and modifying features, richer queries, multiple datasets, and collection hierarchies.

A key advantage to the OGC API - Features standard is the direct, fine-grained access to the data at the feature (object) level, providing greater flexibility for linking of resources on the Web. It is consistent with the OGC/W3C Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices.

The OGC API - Features - Part 1: Core standard has been developed in coordination with ISO / TC 211 (Geographic Information / Geomatics). The standard is currently under consideration by ISO for approval and publication.

As with any OGC standard, the open OGC API - Features standard is free to download and implement. Interested parties can view and download the standard from the OGC API - Features Standard Page on the OGC website.

Implementers can validate their application using the conformance test currently under development at the OGC GitHub Repository. The test will be available for certification within the next 3 months.

About OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international consortium of more than 530 businesses, government agencies, research organizations, and universities driven to make geospatial (location) information and services FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

OGC’s member-driven consensus process creates royalty free, publicly available geospatial standards. Existing at the cutting edge, OGC actively analyzes and anticipates emerging tech trends, and runs an agile, collaborative Research and Development (R&D) lab that builds and tests innovative prototype solutions to members' use cases.

OGC members together form a global forum of experts and communities that use location to connect people with technology and improve decision-making at all levels. OGC is committed to creating a sustainable future for us, our children, and future generations.

Visit ogc.org for more info on our work.