OGC Specifications for Access to Distributed Geospatial Data

One of the major international challenges of building Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) is linking distributed, heterogeneous spatial information resources from different data providers in an application-oriented and user-oriented way. Exemplified by a utilities network information system for local governments this paper explains and discusses a way of overcoming these challenges based upon the specifications of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The utilities network information system is based on a unique multi-vendor OGC test platform. This platform has been set up in order to do research on interoperability and the usage of distributed spatial data and in order to assess and to promote the application of OGC specifications in practice by the Runder Tisch GIS e.V. (“Round Table Geographic Information Systems”), a vendor-neutral not-for-profit organization situated at the Munich University of Technology (Technische Universität München), Germany. This platform contains commercially available products from all major GIS vendors, products from smaller GIS vendors as well as Open Source Software implementing OGC Web Service specifications. Based on the experience gained in setting up the OGC test platform conclusions are drawn and recommendations for building SDIs are made regarding the benefits, the productivity, the applicability as well as the potentials and limitations of the OGC Web Services approach. 1