PB leads AEC involvement in Open Geospatial Consortium

NEW YORK—PB is the first architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) consultancy to be a voting member of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 300 companies, government agencies, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. Open GIS specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" web, wireless, and location-based services and mainstream information technology. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications.

"The OGC consensus standards development process has benefited from PB’s commitment, demonstrated leadership, and collaboration with other OGC member organizations in addressing this important interoperability area of challenge," says OGC President Mark Reichardt. "I encourage other industry organizations to join this initiative to accelerate our path to greater interoperability."

Doug Eberhard, a PB vice president and the keynote speaker at a recent OGC Interoperability Day adds, "After several years of laying the groundwork, the AEC industry is poised to significantly improve how digital information assets are used throughout the life of infrastructure projects. Integrating AEC and geospatial technology practices is an important step forward for the infrastructure industry by integrating engineering and construction data with geospatial information for whole cities and regions."

PB has provided leadership for the growing emphasis on infrastructure activities in the OGC as the founding chair of OGC’s 3-D Information Management (3DIM) working group.

"We encourage other AEC industry leaders to learn more about the OGC process and become actively involved in creating future technology advances," Eberhard says. "These developments can provide our clients, the infrastructure owners, with a host of benefits, including greater efficiency, sustainability, and improved project value."