Wayland, MA, March 09, 2009. The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) (http://www.opengeospatial.org) announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (http://www.noaa.gov) has become a Principal Member of the OGC.
Principal Members evaluate and provide guidance on market direction and Consortium focus, and have authority over the development, release and adoption of OpenGISr Specifications through their voting rights in the OGC Planning Committee (PC). Principal Members also have approval authority for OGC policies and procedures.
Mark Reichardt, President, OGC, said "NOAA's move to Principal Membership in the OGC reflects the significant value the Agency places on the OGC international standards and programs as a means of improving information sharing and reducing costs. By becoming a Principal Member, NOAA increases its leadership role among the OGC's government, industry, academic and research members, who are working worldwide to tackle interoperability challenges related to monitoring, forecasting and predicting of weather, climate, and ocean processes."
Ken McDonald, Data Management Architect of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, Technical, Planning & Integration (TPI) Program Office, said, "the motivation to raise our level of membership was really driven by the widespread and growing interest in OGC specifications and activities found in numerous NOAA programs and projects from across the agency. As a Principal Member, we look forward to becoming more engaged with OGC's many relevant and important initiatives."
About NOAA
From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA's products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America's gross domestic product. NOAA's dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.
NOAA's roots date back to 1807, when the Nation's first scientific agency, the Survey of the Coast, was established. Since then, NOAA has evolved to meet the needs of a changing country. NOAA maintains a presence in every state and has emerged as an international leader on scientific and environmental matters.
About The OGC
The OGCr is an international consortium of more than 370 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OpenGISr Standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/ .
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