PSGA standards

The British Standards Institution (BSI) define a standard as an “Activity of establishing, with regard to actual or potential problems, provisions for common and repeated use, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.”

To put this more simply it is an “agreed way of doing things.”

Standards are knowledge. They are the distilled wisdom of subject matter experts who know the needs of their organisation - manufacturers, sellers, buyers, customers, trade associations, users, and regulators.

When used effectively, standards are powerful tools that can help drive innovation and increase productivity.

Standards make it easier to create, find, share, and integrate data, by ensuring that the data is represented, translated, and interpreted correctly. Standards also help to ensure that the data remains FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable).

Standardised data becomes simpler to create, find, and use. People with different skillsets can achieve the same goals and reach new insights and solutions more easily.

Standards also represent our commitment to collaborate internationally. Following standards means improving the consistency in the delivery of geospatial data and services, in turn improving outcomes, and enhancing value for money.

There are two basic types of standards defined by their function or by their origin.

Standards defined by their function could be a:

• Specification – requirements to be satisfied by a product, material, or process,
• Method – formalising a way to do something or
• A code of practice

Standards defined by their origin include de jure, de facto and proprietary standards.

De jure standards

The most common. These are usually developed for a particular use, by a formal standards authority, such as the ISO, the OGC, or the BSI.

De facto standards

A standard that has been accepted due to its longevity or dominance in a particular area. The image file format TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a good example. It has been around since the 1980’s in its various forms.

Proprietary standards

Frequently developed by large companies and gain acceptance when that company’s products and services are on the market. ESRI shape files are a good example of a proprietary standard.

Open standards are subject to a full public assessment and are available for use without constraints in a manner that is available to all parties. They are used without components or extensions that have dependencies (such as formats or protocols) that do not meet the definition of the open standards themselves.

Open standards should be:

• Consensual, developed based on consensus. No single entity controls the standard.
• Publicly available, unencumbered by patents or other similar rights.
• Non-discriminatory, available to everyone.
• License fee free. There are no charges for their continued use, although a charge may be applied to purchase a copy of the standard, to recover their development cost.
• Vendor neutral, in terms of their content and implementation.
• Data neutral, independent of any particular data storage format

Geospatial data standards are the guidelines by which location data is described and recorded. To exchange, combine, and understand data, we must standardise the format as well as the meaning. Geospatial data standards are much more than technical documents to implement, although they do perform that function. They are the glue that helps to integrate all types of geospatial data.

There are many ways to classify standards. Four common types are:

1. Conceptual standards, for basic standardisation tasks like data modelling and metadata, such as:
   • ISO 19101 – Reference Model
   • ISO 19135 – Procedures for item registration
   • ISO 19115 – Metadata
2. Georeferencing standards, adding location to data, either in the form or coordinates or an identifier, such as:
   • ISO 19111 – Referencing by coordinates.
   • ISO 19112 – Spatial referencing by geographic identifiers
3. Data content. Describing our physical world, such as:
   • ISO 19152 – Land administration domain model
   • ISO 19144 – Land use and land cover
4. Standards for accessing spatial data on the web, such as:
   • ISO 19132 – Location based services, reference model.
   • ISO 19142 – Web feature service
   • OGC API – Features
   • OGC API – Maps

The National Geospatial Data Standards Register maintains and promotes an agreed portfolio of relevant and trusted geospatial data standards. The Geospatial Commission is the owner of the register, the BSI standards committee (IST36) on geographic information acts as the control body for the register and the Ordnance Survey is the register manager.

The national geospatial data standards register was first published in May 2022. 

The purpose of the register is to bring the complex world of geospatial data standards into focus, and provide a listing of the key standards for organisations new to geospatial data to use.

It is also their as a reminder to more experienced users of current practice and developments.

The national standards body in the UK is the British Standards Institution (BSI). Among its many committees they have one on Geographic Information called IST/36. IST/36 has 31 members from across the geospatial data industry in the UK, including Ordnance Survey.

IST/36 maintains and develops new standards with the support of the BSI. Along with the Geospatial Commission and OS, this committee also maintains the National Geospatial Data Standards Register – a register of the key geospatial data standards in the UK.

IST/36 is the UK national mirror committee of ISO/TC 211 at international level. The focus of IST/36 is on providing a UK response to standards created and revised at international level (ISO/TC 211).

Headquartered in Geneva, ISO is a global standardisation organisation. ISO/TC 211 is the committee that works with Geographic Information. The committee has 38 participating and 33 observing countries, each with its own mirror committee.

The standardisation work is undertaken by approximately 21 working and advisory groups. Consultation takes place with the member and observer countries. The committee meets face to face twice a year at their plenary week.

The OGC is a not-for-profit member organisation with over 500 members from large organisations, national mapping agencies, private sector organisations, and academic institutions. They aim to develop open standards to benefit the global geospatial community. They also run innovative pilots and projects to support their standards work.

Ordnance Survey are strategic members of the OGC, which is currently very active in the areas of climate resilience, urban digital twins, and in the development of the OGC APIs. These activities take the form of chairing domain working groups, contributing to standards development and innovation programmes, such as the current open science persistent demonstrator.

UN-GGIM aims to address global challenges regarding the use of geospatial information, including in the development agendas, and to serve as a body for global policymaking in the field of geospatial information management.

They are the publishers of the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF). This is a mechanism for articulating and demonstrating national leadership in geospatial information and the capacity to take positive steps.

An international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the web. Their best-known geospatial publication is known as Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices.