W3C and OGC to Collaborate to Integrate Spatial Data on the Web

The W3C and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) announced today a new collaboration to improve interoperability and integration of spatial data on the Web. Spatial data —describing geographic locations on the earth and natural and constructed features— enriches location-based consumer services, online maps, journalism, scientific research, government administration, the Internet of Things, and many other applications. In the United States alone, geospatial data and services are estimated to generate $1.6 trillion annually.

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More than 100 participants discussed these challenges at the March 2014 Workshop on Linking Geospatial Data, co-organized by OGC and W3C in partnership with the UK Government Linked Data Working Group, Google, and Ordnance Survey (the UK mapping agency). Stories ranging from management of data in response to the Fukushima nuclear plant accident to the use of spatial data to create new services from spatial and historical data in the Netherlands illustrated a diverse set of integration benefits and challenges.

Informed by the conclusions from that Workshop, the collaboration announced today will enable publishers of spatial data, providers of services that consume the data, and application developers to establish common practices and reduce the cost of integrating spatial data on the Web. Through the collaboration the Geospatial and Web communities will document use cases and requirements, develop best practices for publishing spatial data on the Web, and advance some existing technologies to W3C Recommendations and OGC standards.

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For this collaboration, W3C and OGC have each launched a Spatial Data on the Web Working Group (W3C home, OGC home). The groups, both chaired by Ed Parsons and Kerry Taylor, will coordinate closely and publish deliverables jointly.

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