GEO Standards and Interoperability Forum SIF First Organizational Meeting 27 July 2007 Barcelona, Spain

SIF Purpose The Standards and Interoperability Forum will provide advice, expertise and impartial guidance on issues relating to standards and interoperability for the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).

SIF Objectives The Standards and Interoperability Forum will: help in the identification and promotion of standards required to achieve GEOSS interoperability objectives help in the identification and promotion of standards required to achieve GEOSS interoperability objectives facilitate cooperation among the many organizations, including national agencies of member countries, in selecting, developing and using diverse standards applicable to GEOSS facilitate cooperation among the many organizations, including national agencies of member countries, in selecting, developing and using diverse standards applicable to GEOSS assist in reaching agreement on standards for each technical component of GEOSS assist in reaching agreement on standards for each technical component of GEOSS identify gaps in current standards; facilitate the creation of standards to fill such gaps identify gaps in current standards; facilitate the creation of standards to fill such gaps support education and outreach for international participants and help increase technical and public awareness. support education and outreach for international participants and help increase technical and public awareness.

Scope The scope of the Standards and Interoperability Forum will include observing, modeling, processing, storage and dissemination capabilities interfaced through interoperability specifications recognized in coordination with and adhered to by all contributed GEOSS systems.

Rationale – Draft Statement To support further consensus seeking in matters of GEOSS interoperability, the GEO ADC will call upon its SIF. This Forum is constituted to address situations where GEOSS components cannot interoperate using one of the registered standards or other arrangements. This Forum is constituted to address situations where GEOSS components cannot interoperate using one of the registered standards or other arrangements. Drawing on expert advice, the objective of the Forum is to exploit existing standards to the maximum extent possible. Drawing on expert advice, the objective of the Forum is to exploit existing standards to the maximum extent possible. The Forum is not itself a "standards body", but it is expected that its participants will forward suggestions to standards organizations from time to time. The Forum is not itself a "standards body", but it is expected that its participants will forward suggestions to standards organizations from time to time.

Approach and Functions The SIF supports the GEOSS Standards and Interoperability Registry which contain information on the interoperability arrangements employed by GEOSS components. SIF will serve to encourage broader use of existing standards as a primary factor in recommending interoperability arrangements for GEOSS, and considers existing international standards organizations such as IEEE, ISO, OGC and others as focal points for GEOSS interoperability objectives.

Approach and Functions The Standards and Interoperability Forum will provide a mechanism to monitor relevant activities within GEO and the broader community to determine if there are issues relating to currently adopted standards and whether there are potential issues in the adoption and conformance to the GEOSS-recommended interoperability specifications. The Standards and Interoperability Forum facilitates linkages and partnerships between established Standards Development Organizations, users and new groups or organizations interested in collaborating in GEOSS standards efforts.

Approach and Functions The SIF will support education and outreach for all international creators and users of standards and help increase technical and public awareness of matters relating to standards and interoperability, including processes that strongly encourage users to adopt the recommended standards and interoperability approaches.

GEO Portal Standards Developmen t Organization Standards and Interoperability Forum Special Arrangements reference component services SIF works with component contributor Consults GEOSS Component Registers component and services populates Users Community Experts Component services reference Interoperability Arrangements GEO Secretariat monitors Component and Service Registry GEOSS Clearinghouse GEOSS Registries GEOSS Standards and Interoperability Registry Standards Special Arrangements

Org Chart GEO Plenary ADC SIF SDOs UICOthers GEOSec

Summary of Responses 22 responses See Spreadsheet

Process Any user may propose a standard or interoperability arrangement by filling out a web form Will appear immediately in Standards Registry with status = pending Will appear immediately in Standards Registry with status = pending Anyone may comment on proposed standard via discussion board on Standards Registry homepage Respondents to the SIF CFP will be added to an list and automatically notified of new entries

What Should Determine Whether a Standard Should be in Registry? Criteria Open, non-proprietary Open, non-proprietary Well documented Well documented Widely used within at least one community? Widely used within at least one community?

Which Special Arrangements should be allowed in the Registry? Any and all – GEOSS cannot pass judgment on how M&POs do business Issue is visibility within the Service and Standards Registries A special arrangement that is not suitable for wider use, i.e. that GEOSS doesn’t want to encourage reuse of, may remain simply metadata attached to a service record, rather than an entry in the Standards and Interoperability Registry A special arrangement that is not suitable for wider use, i.e. that GEOSS doesn’t want to encourage reuse of, may remain simply metadata attached to a service record, rather than an entry in the Standards and Interoperability Registry