November 13, 2008 -- Following on from the recently released results of the Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC) global survey on spatial data quality, 1Spatial is delighted to announce a web seminar on 25th November to explain the current activities of the Data Quality Working Group (WG) and how to get involved.

The OGC Data Quality WG was created in 2007 with the goal of determining how data quality can be defined, measured and communicated. This can be achieved by using standards to help with the reuse of spatial data and in the creation and management of Spatial Data Infrastructures. 1Spatial’s Seb Lessware chairs the group, and the Vice-Chair is Patrick Cunningham from Blue Marble Geographics.

Following the commissioning and distribution of a survey to thousands of geospatial data suppliers and users from around the world, the WG is looking at existing spatial data quality specifications to see where they can be advanced and extended.

1Spatial’s Seb Lessware will be hosting a 30-minute Web Seminar, open to any OGC or non-OGC members with an interest in geospatial data quality. The seminar will explain the OGC, the work of the Data Quality WG and how to become involved in the initiative.
The seminar will take place on Tuesday 25th November at 3pm GMT (4pm CET, 7am PST, 8am MST, 9am CST, 10am EST) and will also involve Athina Trakas, as a guest speaker representing OGC Europe.

Participation is free and you can register now, online, at the 1Spatial website: http://www.1spatial.com/news_events/events/view_event.php?event=1140

"This survey is an important part of what the Working Group is doing for the geospatial technology industry," explained Sam Bacharach, Executive Director of Outreach, OGC. "We are pleased to provide people with the opportunity to get involved in the development of geospatial data quality standards. We thank them for supporting our research in this area, and we hope that they will continue to follow our progress and provide input."

Seb Lessware, Chair of the Spatial Data Quality Working Group, commented:

"We were very pleased with the number and range of organisations that took the time to complete the spatial data quality survey. These results show us that while there is general acceptance of the negative impact of spatial data errors, there is no consistent approach applied when resolving these issues. The survey showed the need for the Working Group to build on existing ISO data quality specifications and review other approaches as well."

Full details of the OGC, and of the Data Quality WG are available on the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org and the results of the Data Quality WG survey are available as a PDF file, downloadable from the following location: http://portal.opengeospatial.org/files/?artifact_id=30415