With World Standards Day on 14 October approaching, it is worth recognising the contribution of ISO/TC 211 Geographic Information/Geomatics, the international committee responsible for developing the standards that underpin the global geospatial ecosystem.

Many people interact with maps, navigation systems and location-enabled services every day without realising that international standards make this interoperability possible. For more than 30 years, ISO/TC 211 has provided the foundation for consistent geospatial data through standards covering metadata, data quality, reference systems, application schemas, web services and interoperability.

One of its most significant contributions has been in metadata, enabling organisations to describe geospatial data consistently so that it can be discovered, understood, trusted and reused. These standards remain fundamental to Spatial Data Infrastructures, national data-sharing initiatives and the FAIR principles.

ISO/TC 211 has also played a major role in land administration, supporting the standardisation of land, property and rights information. This helps governments, businesses and citizens manage land resources more effectively and transparently.

Looking forward, the committee is increasingly focused on some of society’s biggest challenges. Geospatial information is essential for understanding and responding to climate change, while standards for data quality, provenance, semantics and interoperability are becoming increasingly important in preparing trusted geospatial data for artificial intelligence applications.

Building on discussions initiated at the Metadata Summit in Bolzano, Italy, and the metadata modernization session at the ISO/TC 211 62nd Plenary, Natural Resources Canada and the Open Geospatial Consortium are convening a Metadata Summit in Ottawa, Canada.

The summit will bring together metadata practitioners, standards experts, policy leaders, and data communities to explore how we can transform metadata from a compliance burden into a foundation for AI-ready, sovereign data infrastructure.

Metadata is an increasingly important foundation for modern digital infrastructure — helping make data discoverable, understandable, trustworthy, reusable, and FAIR.

The summit will focus on practical implementation: how we can develop metadata ecosystems that are simpler to implement, easier to govern, and capable of supporting the next generation of data-driven applications.

Discussions will explore how metadata can help meet evolving regulatory and policy requirements, strengthen digital sovereignty, enable interoperability, and prepare data infrastructure for AI.

Together, we will:

• Build a shared understanding of metadata challenges across Canadian data communities.
• Explore how ISO standards, DCAT, STAC, OGC API, and trust and policy requirements can work together as part of an interoperable metadata ecosystem.
• Identify practical implementation patterns and opportunities for shared infrastructure, tools, and approaches.
• Examine metadata requirements for AI-augmented data processing alongside conventional data discovery, access, and reuse.
• Develop actionable policy and standards recommendations to inform OGC, ISO/TC 211, and Canadian data strategy activities.

Join us in Ottawa and online to share implementation experiences, explore common approaches, and advance interoperable, FAIR, sovereign, and AI-ready data infrastructure.

📅 November 4–5, 2026
📍 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and online

This event is open to everyone and complimentary to attend. Register today to reserve your spot! Registration closes October 15th

From the organisers: Once we reach capacity, new registrations will be added to a waitlist, and we’ll be in touch if a space becomes available.

From 24–29 May 2026, the 28th FIG World Congress convenes in Cape Town, bringing together the global surveying, geospatial and land administration community under the theme “The Future We Want – The SDGs and Beyond.”

As the leading international gathering for geomatics professionals, the Congress provides a platform for policymakers, scientists and practitioners to explore how geospatial intelligence and land governance can drive sustainable development, resilience and innovation in the years ahead.

ISO/TC 211 and FIG: a long-standing standards partnership
A key feature of the Congress is the strong presence of international standards bodies, notably ISO/TC 211 Geographic information, whose work underpins global geospatial interoperability.

ISO/TC 211 maintains a liaison relationship with FIG, reflecting an active and formal collaboration in the development and application of standards relevant to the surveying profession.
 
This relationship is further reinforced through the FIG Standards Network, where dedicated representatives ensure alignment between surveying practice and international geospatial standards development.

Through its portfolio of over a hundred standards covering data models, services, metadata, and spatial-temporal schemas, ISO/TC 211 provides the framework for consistent management, integration and sharing of geographic information worldwide.

This work is critical to FIG’s mission: enabling professional practice that is fit for emerging global challenges, including climate resilience, land management, digital transformation and sustainable urban development.

Standards enabling global sustainability goals
At FIG 2026, the role of standards in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a major theme. ISO/TC 211’s standards directly support a wide range of SDGs by enabling:
•    Interoperable geospatial data infrastructures
•    Reliable land administration and cadastral systems
•    Integration of environmental, infrastructure and socio-economic data
•    Scalable solutions for monitoring climate and disaster impacts

Highlight session: Geospatial innovation for climate and resilience

A focal point of the Congress programme is the session:
“Geospatial Innovations towards managing Disasters, Land Degradation and Climate Change”

Wednesday 27 May, 14:00
A key highlight will be a joint presentation by ISO/TC 211 and OGC on:

“The contribution of Geospatial International Standards in support of the SDGs, Climate and the broader societal Environment.”
The presentation underscores how coordinated international standards ecosystems are increasingly essential to:
•    Climate monitoring and resilience planning
•    Disaster risk reduction and response
•    Environmental protection and land-use management
•    Integration of emerging technologies such as AI, digital twins and geospatial data cubes

The joint ISO–OGC work demonstrates how standards are evolving alongside innovation—ensuring that new capabilities such as APIs, AI-enabled data processing and digital twin infrastructures can be trusted, interoperable and globally scalable.

Looking ahead
As the geospatial community gathers in Cape Town, the message is clear:

Standards are no longer a background enabler—they are central to addressing the world’s most complex societal and environmental challenges.

Through its partnership with FIG and OGC, ISO/TC 211 continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring that geospatial information is trusted, interoperable, and ready to support decision-making at global scale.