Spatial Representations and Spatial Data Infrastructures

A non-profit organization founded to address the lack of interoperability among systems that process geospatial data. The OGC is an international industry consortium of companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geographic interface specifications that support interoperable solutions to "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services and mainstream IT.

An open standard is one that 1) is created in an open, international, participatory industry process; 2) is freely distributed and openly accessible; 3) does not discriminate against persons or groups; and 4) ensures that the specification and license are technology-neutral (its use must not be predicated on any proprietary technology or style of the interface). Related terms: Open Specification