With one month to go to our 58th plenary meeting in London (24th-28th June), we have the following profile of one of our generous meeting sponsors.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is a world-leading centre for hydrography, specialising in marine geospatial data to support safe, secure and thriving oceans.

As an Executive Agency and Trading Fund of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), we provide this information and expert advice to UK government as part of our public task.

We also source, analyse and process data from seabed to surface, to help partners around the world make the best use of our marine environment.

This includes mariners and shipping companies, who have used our ADMIRALTY products and services for 225 years for safe and efficient navigation. In the UK, the Royal Navy and other defence users also rely on this data for safe navigation and work with our staff to support operations that help promote peace on a global scale.

Although the UKHO has been standardizing nautical charts and publications since the 19th Century work has accelerated since the International Hydrographic Organization was established in 1921. UKHO has been an active contributor to the work of IHO for many years including the development of an international standard for nautical charts. More recently following the advent of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) we have taken a leading role in the maintenance of these standards chairing various working groups. 

UKHO participates in geospatial standardisation through the Open Geospatial Consortium. To support our Defence activities, we also participate in the Defence Geospatial Information Working Group (DGIWG). A key focus for the IHO and UKHO is the S-100 series of standards which implement many of the ISO 19100 series of standards.