The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that outlines how they will together contribute to a flourishing data economy through the creation and development of standards for data spaces that ensure sovereign, interoperable, and trusted data sharing.

OGC is an international non-profit consortium aiming to make geospatial (location) information and data services FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. IDSA is an international non-profit association that follows a user-driven approach to create a global standard for international data spaces and interfaces based on sovereign data sharing. The MoU seeks to align activities between the two organizations so that OGC and IDSA Standards can work in tandem. This will be achieved in part through joint participation in potential future projects and initiatives, particularly in the areas of global supply chains, intelligent transport, and smart city data spaces.

Projects in global supply chains and intelligent transport may include developing solutions that support the monitoring of shipping routes, tracking freight, sharing ocean currents and weather data, and more. Projects in smart city data spaces could focus on improving data sharing from business and technical perspectives and could include data ranging from traffic to population migration. The two organizations have already identified several ongoing or completed projects relevant to their work together, including: Divine, Flexigrobots, DEMETER, ATLAS & AgriDataValue, Iliad, AD4GD, OGC Rainbow, and others.

Stressing that as the number of available data sources continues to grow, the challenge of integrating them into high-value products becomes ever greater, Ingo Simonis, PhD, Chief Technology Innovation Officer, OGC, commented, “In order to develop effective solutions for cross-border data integration, international collaboration is critical. As such, OGC is eager to work with IDSA to tackle this task together.”

Committed to driving digital transformation, Silvia Castellvi, Director - Research & Standardization, IDSA, stated, “IDSA champions economic growth, innovation, and a cohesive data-sharing approach. Partnering with OGC ensures our standards align and resonate. Enhancing features, like the geolocation of IDS Connectors, not only advances our standard but boosts its appeal for future developers and users.”

For more information: www.internationaldataspaces.org