Keep reading. Background is boring but necessary.
As part of the coverage support stuff which I've been trying to squeeze in
between system administration disasters, I think I've tracked down how to
get my paws on "draft standards", like 19101-2, 19115-2, 19130, and other
potentially relevant documents. As noted below, this seems to be a problem
that a modest amount of cash money can easily solve. (NOTE: "Modest"
compared with a $10000 Technical Committee membership in the OGC.) I
believe that if I cough up $800, I can not only get access to these
standards which aren't scheduled for publication until late 2007, but I can
actually help them take shape.
Please note : the membership below is not a membership in the OGC. Turns
out that ISO has one member from each member country. For the US, that
member is ANSI (American National Standards Institute). For the US, ANSI
is responsible for forming and validating groups of cash-money-paying
"experts" to provide input to the various Technical Comittees of ISO. The
group below is one of these validated groups of national experts, and as
far as I know is the _only_ group capable of casting the USA vote on ISO
standards coming from TC211, which is the Geospatial TC. Strikingly, I did
not see the OGC on their membership list, and I was under the impression
that the OGC was a US organization.
So this begs the question: what's the relationship between OGC and ISO?
The OGC has been "adopting" various ISO standards to replace the ones they
wrote themselves, but the copies on the OGC website are working drafts or
final drafts or something other than the actual final international
standard. So when differences pop up between the version that OGC is
distributing and the official ISO standard, which one is OGC-compliant? It
would seem to me that claiming ISO compliance is a far less ambiguous act.
On the other hand, the OGC has a broader base of approved standards on the
plate now. ISO has no WFS/WCS/WMS spec published yet, but WFS/WMS are
currently in the works. Presumably WCS will follow. GML is on deck, but I
haven't seen a title which screams out "SLD".
Here's where I want to ask the list's advice, because you all have been
involved with the OGC process for longer than me: It seems that OGC has
made a decision to adopt the ISO 191xx series of International Standards
where they coincide with OGC standards. Is this in fact the case? If so,
it implies that participating in ISO is a more permanent effort, whereas
participating in OGC efforts is more of a stopgap initial effort. It also
implies that Geotools could lead more and play catch-up less were there to
be an "ISO" module whose contents would slowly migrate to "main" as various
ISO standards are accepted by the OGC. It might also provide users a
chance to have a longer preview of the next release and adapt their code to
it.
Back to an immediate reality: How important is it that Geotools be limited
by the currently published standards, and how would you like us nD coverage
folks to keep track of the "additions"?
Keep this in mind over the next few months.
Stirring the pot,
Bryce
----- Forwarded by Bryce L Nordgren/RMRS/USDAFS on 11/01/2005 05:28 PM
-----
"Garner,
Jennifer"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To
> "Bryce L Nordgren"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
11/01/2005 01:30 cc
PM "Barra, Lynn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject
RE: Participation in ISO/TC211
Dear Bryce -
US organizations that want to participate in the development of ISO/TC
211 standards need to become members of the US Technical Advisory Group
- INCITS/L1. Membership on INCITS/L1 costs $800 for one principal and
one alternate representative. The INCITS/L1 web site is available at:
http://www.incits.org/tc_home/l1.htm
Please contact Lynn Barra ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) to request membership on
INCITS/L1.
Best regards -
Jennifer T. Garner
Associate Director, Standards Programs
INCITS/Information Technology Industry Council
1250 Eye Street, NW - Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
202.626.5737
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: www.incits.org
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