Open GIS symposium to showcase agency geoprocessing integration

Business Wire, Sept 9, 1996

WAYLAND, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1996--The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today that it will hold an Open GIS Symposium on October 21, 1996, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the National Geographic Society's Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium, 1600 M St. NW, Washington, D.C.

At this technology forum, interested technology managers will learn about OGC and the role it plays in helping major public and private sector organizations integrate geospatial data into their information systems.

The symposium will feature:

-- In a keynote address, Irvin P. Buck, Chairman of the US Dept. of Defense Geospatial Information Integrated Product Team, will describe the benefits and implications of the GIIPT's new Strategic Membership in OGC.

-- OGC's president, David Schell, and OGC's Vice President, Business Development, Louis G. Hecht, will provide an update on the OpenGIS Specification effort. This successful new geoprocessing interface standard and OGC's special membership options for user organizations will make transparent network access to geospatial data and geoprocessing resources a key strategic capability for a wide range of government agencies and private sector businesses.

-- OGC Director Carl Cargill, a noted theorist in standards consortia and Program Manager for Standards at Netscape Communications, will explain what sets OGC apart from other standards consortia, exploring OGC's user-centered approach and unique consensus-oriented development process.

-- A panel of experts from government and the private sector will discuss key issues relating to the GIIPT and the incorporation of geospatial data and geoprocessing into enterprise decision making and operational functions.

Through its efforts to understand and address the needs of its user members, OGC has become the preferred approach to integrating geoprocessing services into distributed Internet or enterprise environments in both public and private sectors. OGC is committed to informing the public of the implications of distributed geoprocessing for infrastructure development, reinvention of government, economic development, and corporate computing. OGC provides a vital link to the community at large, designed to provide full public access to the OpenGIS process and to the opportunity to contribute to the community dialog on geospatial interoperability.

For more information or to see a copy of the OpenGIS Specification, see the OGC home page at http://www.opengis.org.

CONTACT: Lance McKee

The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC)

508/655-5858

lmckee@opengis.org