SOFTWARE VENDORS DEMONSTRATE INTEROPERABILITY OF GEOSPATIAL SOFTWARE TO UN STAFF

SOFTWARE VENDORS DEMONSTRATE INTEROPERABILITY OF GEOSPATIAL SOFTWARE TO UN STAFF

(Reissued as received.)

NEW YORK, 28 January (UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations) -– Software vendor members of the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) demonstrated for United Nations staff on 16 January the interoperability that is now possible between their geographic information systems.  The vendors demonstrating software showed how wider use of such Web-based open interfaces would help United Nations agencies and partner organizations around the world to efficiently develop, publish, discover, share and use geographic information.

Last year, the United Nations ran a successful competitive bid and procurement for a system for use by the United Nations Headquarters bodies, including the Security Council.  The system, now in place, provides flexible and open Web access to geographic information from multiple sources.  The openness of the system -- that is, its interoperability with other systems -- is made possible through common interfaces that comply with OGC's OpenGIS Specifications.

Hiroshi Murakami, Chief of the UN Cartographic Section, explained that United Nations decisions and operations depend on geographic information in activities such as brokering agreements on boundaries, coordinating humanitarian relief, planning and deploying peacekeeping initiatives, eradicating disease, removing landmines, promoting sustainable agriculture and development, and protecting the environment.  Geographic information in the United Nations is maintained independently by its different organizations.  This distributed approach demands an open and networked system, which is now possible through OpenGIS Specifications, he said.

The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 255 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications.  OpenGIS Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream information technology.  The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications.

For more information, contact:  Mark E. Reichardt, Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption, OpenGIS Consortium, Inc., tel. (301) 840-1361;  e-mail: mreichardt@opengis.org; or visit OGC Web site at http://www.opengis.org.

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