Standardization and Research Prof. Dr. Christine Giger Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich © Atlas der Schweiz - interaktiv

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Standards?!

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Switzerland?! CZ = CH ?!

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Swiss Newspaper (Tages-Anzeiger ) Slovak Republic! Hungary?

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Access to Geodata! Examples: Institute for Cartography, ETH Zurich

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Information Communities “An Information Community is a collection of people (e.g. a government agency, a profession, a group of researchers in the same discipline, etc.) who … share a common digital geographic information language and share common spatial feature definitions. This implies a common world view as well as common abstractions, feature representations, and metadata.” (according to Open GIS Consortium, 1999,

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Different Semantics In any application of spatial information: There is a demand for integrating spatial data from different sources, which belong to different information communities. Usually this integration is non-trivial because of the different semantics used for the spatial data in different information communities.

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Example: Urban Planning We need different features and attributes from different data sources, amongst others:  Citizens’ and politicians’ opinions on street network  Basic spatial data from official survey  Possible paths for traffic from private supplier for car navigation data  Information on lane surface properties from road maintenance

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Example: spatial features and attributes The data on streets should be characterized by:  Purpose and notion  Geometry  Accuracy and co-ordinate system

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Example : What is a street? Information Community CitizensOfficial survey NavigationRoad maintenance Purpose/ Notion Traffic, noise Part of a tessellation, consists of parcels Part of a path, which has to be calculated 3D object with different surface features and infrastructure attributes GeometryLine on a map Polygon, specifying an area Connected line segments, topology explicitly stored Linear object, street axis Accuracy/ Co- ordinate system Sufficient for recognizing the street in reality / adequate 1 to 10 cm / local, official co- ordinate system (x,y) 10 to 30 meters / local, official co-ordinate system (x,y) ~ 10 cm to 50 cm / linear co- ordinate system (u,v)

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Problem There is not ONE geometry or description for a spatial object How to describe semantics of spatial objects in a formal way? How to provide services for data transfer, data integration, quality checks, etc.? Approaches: CH: INTERLIS ISO/TC211: conceptual schema language Science: Ontology

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, What is an Ontology? In Philosophy:  A science or study of being: specifically, a branch of metaphysics relating to the nature and relations of being; a particular system according to which problems of the nature of being are investigated In Artificial Intelligence / Computer Science:  A theory concerning the kinds of entities and specifically the kinds of abstract entities that are to be admitted to a language system.  OR simply: A specification of a conceptualization.

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Research topics in Geoinformation Science … which are related to ISO/TC211 standards  use of Ontologies for spatial data processing  Image semantics  Interoperable Services  Location-based Services  Handling of spatio-temporal data  3-D Information systems  Data Usability  Ontology and Metadata  Spatial Data Infrastructures  …

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, (GI-) Standards

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Benefits for Research According to the Swiss experience (mainly during the INTERLIS development), standards:  provide a reliable basis  prevent from re-inventing the wheel  offer interesting research topics (during development)  may offer an opportunity to disseminate know-how and research results

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Benefits for Standardization Today‘s research results (in GI Science and Technology) will influence the market in 5-7 years Students who use standards in projects, thesis, and courses:  are well-educated experts who appreciate the standards‘ usability  help to disseminate the standards and enforce their market presence Research institutions provide neutral experts to test, evaluate, and improve existing standards

GeoInformation Technologies Prof. Dr. Ch. Giger - Standardization and ResearchISO/TC211, Conclusion Keep close contact between Standardization and Research!