More (perhaps old) news ( 4/13) " OGC® Approves KML as Open Standard"
The formal press release from OGC appended below, and this on a google blog
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2008/04/kml-new-standard-for-sharing-maps.html
"Starting today, Google no longer controls KML. The Open Geospatial
Consortium (OGC), an international standards body, has announced the
completion of KML's standardization process. KML has become an OGC
Standard, and the OGC will take responsibility for maintaining and
extending it. This transfer of ownership is a strong reflection of
Google's commitment to open standards. Fundamentally, our interest is
not to control information, but rather to encourage its spread."
Despite this announcement , does the OGC community actually now 'own'
the future of kml? I'm not sure.
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can comment on whether not Google
actually still controls KML destiny, with all of their queued up kml3.0
and beyond features and extensions they can unilaterally adopt and
implement in google earth, before submission or adoption by OGC
committees.
I'm also wondering about highlights of alignment with GML, and what
major elements are left out or postponed in this 'standard' version.
Some 3d elements perhaps?
Raj or Carl or Ron anyone in the OGC KML groups care to share any
comments? (Andrew?)
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http://www.opengeospatial.org/pressroom/pressreleases/857
OGC® Approves KML as Open Standard
Wayland, Mass., April 14, 2008 - The members of the Open Geospatial
Consortium, Inc. (OGC) today announced the approval of the OpenGIS® KML
Encoding Standard (OGC KML), marking KML's transition into an open
standard which will be maintained by the OGC. Developers will now have a
standard approach for using KML to code and share visual geographic
content in existing or future web-based online maps and 3D geospatial
browsers like Google EarthTM.
"We are pleased to see the adoption of KML as an OGC standard," said Ron
Lake, chairman and chief executive officer of Galdos Systems Inc. "We
believe that this is a major step forward for the OGC and for the entire
geographic information community, as it provides the first broadly
accepted standard for the visualization of geographic information."
"Geographic data adds tremendous value to the online experience. More
and more people are looking for ways to incorporate location information
into their online content," said Michael Weiss-Malik, KML product
manager for Google. "The standardization of KML makes it possible for
both novice and expert users alike to publish and share geographical
information in an open format. It's not unlike web browsers'
standardized support for HTML, which allows any web browser to read any
web page."
KML version 2.2 was brought into the OGC consensus process by a
submission team led by Google and Galdos Systems Inc.
KML is an XML-based programming language, originally developed to manage
the display of geospatial data in Google Earth. It's still used heavily
in Google Earth but is also supported by a variety of vendors' tools and
mapping websites.
The OpenGIS KML 2.2 Encoding Standard formalizes the KML 2.2 model and
language while remaining backwards compatible with existing KML 2.2
files and tools. In comparison with the GoogleTM KML 2.2 Reference, the
standard defines:
* the KML 2.2 geometry encoding and interpolation model
* an extension model in support of application profiles
* conformance requirements and test cases
The adopted OpenGIS KML 2.2 Encoding Standard (OGC KML) is available at
http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/kml/.
About the OGC
The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 345 companies,
government agencies, research organizations, and universities
participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available
geospatial standards. OpenGIS® Standards support interoperable solutions
that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and
mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make
geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any
application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website
at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.
Google and Google Earth are trademarks of Google Inc.
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