The OGC membership process is operationally organized into groups and subgroups, each group having a specified role and level of responsibility. There are three major groups, called Committees: The Technical, the Planning and the Strategic Management Advisory Committees.
The Technical Committee is responsible for all aspects of the formal consensus OGC specification process. This includes: Coordinate development of and modifications to the OpenGIS Abstract Specification; C Coordinate development and adoption of OpenGIS Implementation Specifications Act on specification change proposals (acceptance, rejection, and conditional acceptance), many responsibilities concerning evaluation, approval and recommendations of various documents and proposals. Above all, the Technical Committee provides an open forum for professional discussion of issues and items related to the consensus development and/or evaluation and approval of specifications that provide the ability to build and deploy interoperable geospatial solutions in the larger IT domain. The TC also has methodology in place to govern its composition, its meetings and meeting agendas, and voting procedures.
In order to carry out the business of the TC in a timely manner, four different types of subgroups of the TC may be formed. These groups address the four major needs for activity within the TC:
To deal with procedural and definitional tasks (subcommittees, SC)
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To work on new OpenGIS Specification or Abstract Specifications that have been proposed through the OGC RFC or RFP process; (Working Group)
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To discuss specific technology or user domain requirements for interoperability (Working Group);
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Single-purpose groups to work on revision of Adopted Specifications (revision working groups, RWG);
Committees
The OGC Planning Committee is granted authority to operate by the OGC Bylaws. Principal Membership is provided for organizations that wish to participate in the planning and management of the Consortium`s technology development process.
The Planning Committee has ultimate responsibility for approving Technical Committee recommendations for the adoption and release of specifications, and for Specification Program planning. The Planning Committee: Generates requirements related to markets it is analyzing. Helps maintain and provide direction for the OGC Roadmap. Makes final decisions on issuing RFIs, RFCs, and RFPs (see below). Accepts, rejects, or conditionally accepts Candidate Implementation Specifications as recommended by the Technical Committee. Decides on revisions to existing Adopted Implementation Specifications based on recommendations from the Technical Committee.
The Strategic Management Advisory Committee is conceived to be a permanent committee within the OGC organization, designed specifically to provide Strategic Members the opportunity to participate in the strategic planning processes of the Consortium, and to support Consortium operations aimed at achieving the corporation`s mission as defined in the bylaws. The SMAC is a formal structure defined within the framework of OGC`s bylaws, designed to operate in parallel with the formal technical decision-making process (Planning Committee and Technical Committee) of the Consortium.
Sub Committee (SCs)
A Subcommittee is subgroup of the OpenGIS Planning Committee and may interface with other groups or committees.
Working Groups (WGs)
A WG is responsible for the development of Implementation Specifications.
Revision Working Groups (RWGs)
A RWG is responsible for managing the update and maintenance (revision) process for specific Implementation Specifications. Voting is restricted to designated persons.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
The structure of Special Interest Groups is like that of Working Groups, with the same voting structure. SIGs have one or more of the following general duties:
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Draft Abstract Specification Change Proposals for approval at the TC.
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Evaluate technologies proposed as RFCs.
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Draft Discussion Papers on Issues of interest to the OGC, and/or
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Draft Recommendation Papers on Issues of interest to the OGC.
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Review Draft Implementation Specifications and make recommendations to the TC regarding adoption
