Interoperability as a mission

CubeWerx and the
Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

Leadership

Interoperability is not just a buzzword at CubeWerx. It is our primary mission. In the GIS industry, of course, interoperability means giving customers flexibility and choice, instead of locking them into proprietary silo architectures. Since our inception, CubeWerx has been in the vanguard of the interoperability movement, through our involvement with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). CubeWerx work with the OGC goes far beyond simple standards-compliance. In many cases we were the driving force behind the development of those standards. Beginning with the Web Mapping Service (WMS) standard in 1999, where CubeWerx helped write the specification and pushed to develop the first commercially available WMS, our commitment to interoperability has been unwavering.

As early as 2003, this commitment was being recognized, as three of CubeWerx directors were presented with the Kenneth G. Gardels award. The award, a gold medallion, is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to advancing the vision of the OGC. CubeWerx was praised by the OGC for its substantial commitment to the promotion of open geo-processing through its product development program and its leadership. CubeWerx was one of very few organizations that recognized, in the early days, the benefits of the Internet and the Web for deploying cost effective geospatial solutions by supporting collaborative and distributed geo-processing activities through a standards-based Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Times have changed, and the Web is now the central component of nearly any information management initiative. CubeWerx continues its leadership, aggressively tracking new trends and technologies as the GIS industry matures and evolves. But our commitment to Open Standards, and working with the OGC to develop and promote them is a constant.

CubeWerx involvement in OGC standards development

  • OGC API – Features – Part 1: Core – Editor

  • OGC API – Features – Part 2: Coordinate Reference Systems by Reference – Editor

  • OGC API – Features – Part 3: Filtering and the Common Query Language (CQL)  – Editor

  • OGC API – Features – Part 4: Create, Replace, Update, Delete – Editor

  • OGC API – Records – Part 1: Core – Editor

  • OGC API – Common – Part 1: Core – Submitter

  • OGC API – Common – Part 2: Geospatial Data  – Submitter

  • OGC API – Processes – Part 1: Core – Submitter

  • Web Map Server (WMS) – Major contributor and instigator

  • Web Feature Server (WFS) – Editor and major contributor to the specification – first commercial deployment

  • Web Map Tile Server (WMTS) – Editor and major contributor to the specification – first commercial deployment

  • Web Processing Server (WPS) – Major contributor to the specification

  • Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) –  Editor and major contributor

  • Filter Encoding (FE) – Editor and major contributor

  • Catalog Service Web (CSW) – Co-Editor and major contributor

Participation in testbeds and other OGC activities

2021 – Testbed 17 – Data Access and Processing
2020 – Testbed 16 – Data Access and Processing
2019 – Testbed 15 – Delta Update (WFS checkpoints), Open Portrayal (transactional WMTS)
2018 – Testbed 14 – Next generate OGC web services (WFS 3.0), Quality of service extensions, MapML Cloud Proxy, Earth Observation Cloud (Part 2), Vector Tiles
2017 – Testbed 13 – Multiple threads, including Earth Observation Cloud, Geosynchronization Service and MapML Server
2016 – Open Web Services 12 (OWS-12) – Multiple threads, including Linked data, Semantics and Dynamic Integration, Command Center, Large Scale Analytics and Field Operations
2015 – Open Web Services 11 (OWS-11) – WFS-T Information Exchange Architecture
2014 – Open Web Services 10 (OWS-10) – Performance of OGC services using a Cloud infrastructure (Amazon)
2013 – Climate-Hydrologic Information Sharing Pilot, Phase 1 (CHISP-1) – Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2012 – Open Web Services 9 (OWS-9) – Gazetteer: Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2011 – Open Web Services 8 (OWS-8) – GeoSync Best Practices and Bulk data transfer for WFS: Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2010 – Open Web Services 7 (OWS-7) – Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2009 – Authentication IE – Best Practices for Authenticating OGC Services
2008 – Open Web Services 6 (OWS-6)Delivered a Web Map Tiling engineering report with a server implementation. Enhanced the Style Layer Descriptor (SLD) and Style Encoding (SE) standard documents.
2007 – Open Web Services 5 (OWS-5) – Delivered Federated GeoSynchronization Engineering Report (ER) and a GeoSynchronization Service client and server software implementations.
2007 – OGC Geosynchronization Testbed – GeoSynchronization and Data Replication Project
2006 – Open Web Services 4 (OWS-4) – GeoSynchronization: Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2006 – Architecture Board Member – Panagiotis Vretanos from CubeWerx was selected by OGC to become an Architecture Board member.
2006 – GML Simple Features – CubeWerx implementation of GML Simple Feature Profile specification within its WFS Server product
2005 – Open Web Services 3 (OWS-3) – Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2004 – Open Web Services 2 (OWS-2) – Project Management, Information Technology Architect
2004 – Canadian Interoperability Day – Participates with OGC in Ottawa
2003 – Geospatial One-stop Portal Initiative (GOSPI) – Design of an open GeoPortal architecture that meets Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) requirements
2002 – Critical Infrastructure Project Initiative (CIPI-1) – Applying interoperable technology to meet critical infrastructure protection needs
2002 – OGC Multi-hazard Mapping Initiative (MMI-1) – Demonstrate how OGC standards assist in emergency management scenarios
2002 – Military Pilot Project (MPP-1.1) – Demonstrated new interoperable capabilities for portrayal and analysis
2002 – GITA demonstrations – CubeWerx participates with OGC demonstrating new standards-based technologies
2001 – Open Web Services (OWS-1) – The beginning of a long series of initiatives that have pushed the development of many standards
2001 – Military Pilot Project (MPP-1) – To test and exercise newly developed OGC specifications in a near-operational environment
1999 – OGC Web Mapping Testbed – This activity lead directly to the development of the WMS standard