Optimizing the documentation of geospatial data services with OGC building blocks

Abstract

Publishing geospatial data faces significant challenges when it is not properly linked to its underlying data models, affecting its applicability, quality, and semantic understanding. The Building Blocks from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) offer an innovative solution by embedding documentation, data models, and semantics directly into OGC services. This enables FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data publication, ensuring that data can be easily located, accessed, interoperated, reused, and semantically understood. Additionally, it allows for automated validations to guarantee high-quality data. Their adoption not only ensures compliance with international standards but also optimizes data reuse and reduces duplication of efforts, increasing operational efficiency. These tools represent a critical step forward for geospatial data management and publication, maximizing accessibility, utility, and semantic relevance in a globally interconnected environment