Apologies for cross posting. Bruce Bannerman
> -----Original Message----- > From: > media-bounces+b.bannerman=bom.gov...@lists.opengeospatial.org > [mailto:media-bounces+b.bannerman=bom.gov...@lists.opengeospat ial.org] On Behalf Of OGC Press > Sent: Thursday, 26 February 2009 6:43 AM > To: me...@lists.opengeospatial.org > Subject: [OGC Press Release] The OGC forms a Spatial Law and > Policy Committee > > PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For information > about this announcement, contact: > > Sam Bacharach > Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption Open > Geospatial Consortium, Inc > tel: +1-703-352-3938 > sbachar...@opengeospatial.org > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > --------- > > > > February 25, 2009, Wayland, Massachusetts. The Board of > Directors of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC(r)) has > chartered a committee of the Board to specifically address > the "spatial law and policy issues" > which will influence development requirements of the > Consortium's technology process. The Spatial Law and Policy > Committee (SLPC) will be chaired by OGC director and > Executive Committee member, Kevin Pomfret, and will be > organized under board leadership as an educational forum to > include both select member and community participation. > > In the past, legal issues associated with spatial data and > technology were primarily a concern for lawyers that worked > with or for the government. Now, both public sector and > private sector users and providers of geospatial data and > technologies face a wide range of legal issues associated > with growth in consumer and business applications for spatial > technology. Such applications include Earth browsers, > satellite navigation devices in cars and PDA's, > location-based services associated with cell phones, business > intelligence, social networking and satellite tracking of > vehicles and equipment. All of these applications raise > issues that involve intellectual property rights, liability, > privacy, and national security. In many cases, the existing > legal and policy framework is inadequate to provide > governments, businesses and consumers clear guidance on these issues. > > David Schell, OGC Chairman, said, "The OGC plays an expanding > role in addressing society's increasing dependence on > geospatial information services. The advent of information > interoperability in this technology domain raises the profile > of geospatial information for policy makers, managers and > scientists around the world. The Board's creation at this > time of a Spatial Law and Policy Committee reflects the > increasing need of leaders to understand the challenges they > face in this area, and the Board's commitment to meeting > their related information requirements." > > Kevin Pomfret added, "I am looking forward to working with > the OGC and its members on these important issues. Due in > large part to their collective vision and hard work, spatial > technology and applications using spatial data are > increasingly being utilized in a wide range of important > activities. In order for this growth to continue, a solid > legal and policy framework must exist. The OGC's Spatial Law > and Policy Committee can play a critical role in the > development of such a framework." > > The SLPC, in particular, will provide an open forum for OGC members' > legal and policy advisors to discuss the unique legal and > policy issues associated with spatial data and technology. > The Committee will also work with relevant legal groups, such > as the ABA, to raise awareness of these issues within the > broader legal community. The SLPC will not provide legal > advice to the OGC or its Members and will not take a position > on any legal or policy matter on behalf of the OGC or its > membership. It will rather focus on clarification of the > legal and policy environment of the Consortium and work to > ensure that Consortium standards reflect related best > practices and the societal requirements that shape > institutional uptake of interoperable geoprocessing. > > Kevin Pomfret is a Richmond, Virginia based attorney well > known for the work he has done on assorted legal issues > associated with spatial data and technology, including > intellectual property rights, licensing, liability, privacy > and national security. Prior to entering the law, he served > as a satellite imagery analyst with the U.S. > government where he specialized in the development of imagery > collection strategies to monitor critical arms control > agreements. He also served in various U.S. government > positions responsible for developing Intelligence community > satellite imagery collections and exploitation requirements. > Over the years he has written and spoken extensively on > spatial law and technology. > > The OGC(r) 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. The OGC's > OpenGIS(TM) standards support interoperable solutions that > "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, > and mainstream IT. These 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/. > _______________________________________________ > Press and Media mailing list > Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. > 35 Main Street, Suite 5, Wayland, MA 01778 USA > me...@lists.opengeospatial.org Subscribe/unsubscribe for OGC > lists at http://www.opengeospatial.org/resources/?page=email > Other List Options available at > https://lists.opengeospatial.org/mailman/listinfo/media > _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss