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OGC Announces Creation of New Environmental Data Retrieval API Standards Working Group

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According to a recent press release, “The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) today announced the formation of the Environmental Data Retrieval API Standards Working Group (SWG). The Environmental Data Retrieval API SWG will standardize several APIs, defined using OpenAPI Version 3, to retrieve various common data patterns from a data store. Much environmental data cannot be readily copied and distributed in sensible timescales for many uses – a true example of ‘Big Data’. However, users can use APIs to specify precisely the subset of data they need so that a service provider can extract and serve the requested data in a web-friendly manner. Data access is therefore not only simplified, with any complicated service implementation details hidden from the user, but also scalable – both in terms of the underlying data volumes and the number of supported simultaneous users.”

The release goes on, “Using stable, standardized, service APIs based on simple data retrieval patterns will therefore improve the access and use of environmental data and information across different domains, facilitating more innovation and value. A goal of the SWG is that these standardized APIs will be consistent with the strategic direction established by OGC members for OGC API standards, such as OGC API – Features and the emerging OGC API – Common. The service APIs will support both traditional and cloud-based approaches to computing and also enable a mix of public and private business models on a ‘level playing field’. For example, no one country is capable of supplying weather forecast data at the highest useful resolutions for the whole globe. Therefore a distributed, scalable approach is essential to enable affluent countries and Least Developed Countries alike to contribute to global strategic initiatives of sustainability and development.”

Read more at opengeospatial.org.

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