The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has posted an OGC "Invitation to Qualify" (ITQ) for the OGC Interoperability Program (OGC IP) Pool.

The purpose of this invitation is to solicit companies, universities, and independent consultants who wish to pre-qualify to be part of future Open Geospatial Consortium Interoperability Program Team (IP Team) activities.

IP Team members for future initiatives, including the OGC’s 2007 OGC Web Services test bed, OWS-5, will be selected from the IP Pool.

The IP Team is an engineering and management team that oversees and coordinates the OGC Interoperability Program’s Interoperability Initiatives, which include test beds, pilot projects and interoperability experiments.

The IP Team facilitates architectural discussions, synopsizes technology threads, and supports the specification editorial process. The IP Team is comprised of OGC staff, representatives from member organizations, and OGC consultants.

Consultants are selected as IP Team Members in accordance with the process defined in the OGC IP Team Invitation to Qualify (ITQ).

The OGC IP is a global, innovative, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program designed to deliver proven, tested specifications into the OGC Specification Development Program.

Through collaborative engineering efforts, the OGC IP produces and tests Candidate Implementation Specifications for geoprocessing interoperability; develops prototype interoperable infrastructures based on those specifications; and demonstrates the utility and functionality of these specifications in the context of specific exemplary applications.

To be considered for OGC Initiatives in 2007, responses to the ITQ must be received before 31 January, 2007. Contact George Percivall at gpercivall@opengeospatial.org for further details.

OGC

The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 335 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS(R) Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT.

The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications.

For more information visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org