After rain comes sunshine

Dear technical committee,

We are already heading towards midseason meetings, after many of us in the northern hemisphere have enjoyed summer breaks.
I cannot tell you how sad Committee manager Mats and I are to not invite you to a physical meeting from November 29 to December 3 for the 53rd plenary week, which is the consequence of the ongoing pandemic. During my term as chair of this committee, we have met physically twice: in the lovely cities of Maribor and Omiya. Who would have believed that we had even a second virtual meeting after these, and now we are heading for the fourth. Many people I speak to have experienced a more efficient way of working during the pandemic, but the impact of the lack of social intervention is apparent and may also cause a sense of fatigue. As you know, the 53rd plenary week will be my sixth and last plenary as chair of ISO/TC 211 after three years, but I hope I will make it to the first best physical meeting.

I look forward to speaking to you live, in person, at meetings and breaks and social events. For sure, the sun will shine again in this regard, and we will all be there again: with the small talk, the bouncing of ideas, and just the pleasure of meeting! Looking at the committee now fills me with pride. I can witness the committee's strength, the credibility of the ISO/TC 211 name, and the trust given to us to continue to support the global geospatial information management.

Health and climate change are two topics brought to the attention to various extents both in OGC and ISO/TC 211. We are all around the world made aware of both the pandemic and the natural catastrophes that strike areas around the world, not to mention other sorts of crises. I hope health and climate change are areas to further explore in our strategic direction. My town was hit by a relatively severe flooding in the middle of August, something unpredicted and new to Sweden. It is always something else when you have it in your own backyard, and this has hampered me for a few weeks. But it makes you aware of what counts. However, apart from other things with affection value, I mourn my collection of vinyl records. But as music always makes me happy, I am so thrilled to hear of the ABBA reunion, and I think I will virtually now put on another record. Happy New (ISO/TC 211) Year!

Agneta Engberg
Chair ISO/TC 211

Published 2021-09-06 - Read more News

Congrats to the Standards Guide Edition 3 now endorsed by the UN-GGIM expert committee

On September 1^st the UN-GGIM committee of experts adopted the Third Edition of the Guide to the Role of Standards in Geospatial Information Management (Standards Guide), jointly developed by OGC, IHO and ISO/TC 211, and urged the Member States and relevant stakeholders to continue with the broad review and refinement of the Standards Guide as a living and online resource aligned with the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF). ISO/TC 211 wants to congratulate the joint revision team for this accomplishment.

Website for 11^th session of UN-GGIM
Decisions with Decision 11/111 on Standards
SDO Annual report
SDO Introductory Statement
SDO Draft Standards Guide (un.org)
Side event page – with Standards Guide and AG 13 Land Cover Land Use

Published 2021-09-02 - Read more News

Join the UN-GGIM Open seminars 9-20 August

Website for 11th session of UN-GGIM
Table of all Side events
Registration for Side event on the Standards Guide 17 August (SDOs: ISO/TC 211, OGC, IHO)
Keep a lookout for the Side event on Land Cover Land Use 20 August (AG 13 and UNFAO)
 
More of interest:
SDO annual report
Draft Standards Guide (un.org)

Published 2021-08-15 - Read more News