Galdos Systems helps with the development of open standards, working with the submitting organization to standardize data structures and code lists, and assisting with the process of getting the result published as a standard. One project that Galdos undertook in this area was to work with Google to get the first version of the KML encoding for data displayed on Google Earth accepted as an OGC standard. Galdos also has an extensive offering of courses on various open standards.
Supporting Open Standards
Galdos supports open standards and initiatives, and is active on a number of technical committees and working groups within various standards bodies. Galdos has been instrumental in the development of a number of standards in the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and has provided input to a number of the standards bodies that are influential in the creation and ratification of standards that affect GeoWeb services:
The formal international standardization of these specifications is very important to Galdos and its customers. Galdos participates in the ISO, which ratifies and endorses standards from a global perspective. Galdos brings expertise in geographical information and web services to these groups, and takes away an understanding of the standards that its customers seek to meet and adhere to in their businesses.
Ron Lake has been involved in the development of a number of standards in the OGC and ISO. He was awarded the Gardels Medal for his contributions to the creation and development of the Geography Markup Language (GML). GML is the core encoding for geographical data delivered through Open Standards based GeoWeb services.
Galdos hosted the first OGC-sponsored GML Developer Days, and continues to host an annual GeoWeb Conference.
Galdos was part of the team that submitted the KML 2.2 Specification to the OGC, which was approved as an open standard in 2008. Galdos continues to be active in ongoing development of the KML standard through the OGC Mass Market Domain Working Group. This group approves specific OGC KML Extensions developed by other KML Working Groups. Anyone can create an extension for KML but, in order for an extension to approved as part of the KML standard, it must follow the OGC’s defined process and be approved by the Working Group responsible for maintaining that standard.
Leveraging Open Standards
Galdos takes a pragmatic approach to the use of standards, in order to position the company at the heart of all things “Geo” and “Web” related. Galdos aligns its business and vision to the Open Standards movement in computing, services definitions, and data standards in order to implement the GeoWeb and realise the benefits it can deliver. To provide solutions that are effective, scalable, and future-proof, GeoWeb services must be built on a platform of stable and internationally recognized standards.
