OGC joins ApacheCon as Community Partner and Geospatial Track lead

6 March 2018: The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has become an ApacheCon Community Partner to lead a conference track concerning geospatial data and processing at ApacheCon North America 2018, to be held in Montreal this September 24-27. Developers are invited to propose to present. Organizations are invited to sponsor the track.

Building upon the success of the 2016 Geospatial Track, the Geospatial Track at ApacheCon 2018 will provide an opportunity for participants to learn about, discuss, and see examples of the implementation of geospatial information across Apache projects.

Rich Bowen, VP Events, The Apache Software Foundation, said: “One of the most exciting things about being involved at the Apache Software Foundation is seeing the fascinating places where the software is used - Geospatial applications are an obvious example of this. We are pleased to welcome these projects to our event once again.”

Multiple Apache projects now include geospatial data and processing. For example: Apache SIS provides data structures and methods for geographic features, including coordinate reference systems such as OGC Well Known Text (WKT) Coordinate Reference Systems (CRS), including the latest CRS2 and "OGC Axis Order Policy." Several projects provide geospatial structures and methods for Apache Spark, including how to apply Simple Features in Spark. Other projects address spatial indexes on gridded structures, including building on Apache Projects and the related OGC DGGS. And the Apache Science Data Analytics Platform (SDAP) enables fast analysis of oceanographic data.

Outcomes from the ApacheCon 2016 Geospatial Track fed into two OGC Location Powers workshops: Big Data in September 2016, and Big Linked Geodata in March 2017. The outcomes from the 2016 session and the Location Powers events shaped OGC’s Big Geospatial Data white paper. The White Paper identified activities to be undertaken by OGC, including coordination with Apache, and other open source projects, on geospatial topics.

To submit a presentation for the Geospatial Track at ApacheCon NA, include “Geospatial Track” in your abstract. The CFP closes 30th March 2018.