ISO/TC 211 Geographic information/Geomatics

1 Introduction
2 Working groups
3 Interoperability and open data
4 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

[edit] Introduction

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is an independent body responsible for the production of international standards. ISO/Technical Committee (TC) 211 Geographic information/Geomatics was formed in 1994 to establish standards for the creation of object-based data in relation to geographic location. It is still in development, but when finalised, it should standardise digital geographic information and its use in the field.

For more information on the progression of the development of this Standard, visit ISO/TC 211 Geographic information/Geomatics.

[edit] Working groups

The development of the standard is being undertaken by a number of working groups:

Working Group 1 - Framework and reference model.
Working Group 4 - Geospatial services.
Working Group 6 - Imagery.
Working Group 7 - Information communities.
Working Group 9 - Information management.
Working Group 10 - Ubiquitous public access.

(Note that several working groups have disbanded and their work has been passed along to the Technical Committee.)

[edit] Interoperability and open data

ISO/TC 211 supports geospatial interoperability through the use of the ISO 19115 Metadata Standard and ISO 19136 Geography Markup Language (GML). It is currently used as the framework behind the open data standards used with geospatial or geometric systems.

Open data is information that is licensed for anyone to use, for any purpose, at no cost. When several different organisations publish data relating to a similar field, it is beneficial if they all adopt the same format. Ideally, open data should be published in a format defined in an open standard, delivered over a protocol defined in an open standard, and licensed with an open licence.

Publishing open data can:

Make it easier to share and use information.
Encourage innovation.
Encourage collaboration.
Increase use of paid-for products or services.
International adoption goals

ISO/TC 211 has been developed in alignment with the efforts of the Open Geospatial Consortium. Numerous international organisations and standards committees are also involved in its development, supported by the United Nations (with the intention of incorporating it into UN requirements, once it is finalised).