Topic: Specification Document Complexity

OGC Standards are often very complex documents making the standards hard to read and implement.

Relations to other topics

Related to TopicWebsite, TopicFormalGuidance, Mass Market.

Discussion

I think standards are not easy to understand and implement specially in countries where there are no to much experience in such matters like in South America. It is not easy to understand to the general public the value of those electronic standards too. One idea I think can help the standard adoption is: the standards can have three levels of application, I think any standard must have a simple version for general public use (easy standard form), a second level for commerce and industry (complex but functional) and a third just oriented to science and research (complete).

-- GabrielAsato - 25 Jul 2013

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On behalf of Paula McLeod:

OGC Specs are more and more complex. It is difficult to sell them to the management. Even our managers don’t really know the benefit of them, what should be applied and where. It is frequently hard to justify the use of specifications. OGC should give more attention about communication of the benefit of them. It is difficult to get the full understanding of OGC specs. The puzzle is just too big and not well articulated. There is a need for a simple picture/map of all the specs with the linkages between them. What covers each spec? To whom they benefit and for what? Because the lack of knowledge of the specs, it is difficult to provide the good advice when voting on specs. OGC must put additional effort to provide this understanding to the members and non-members. With that maybe the geoRestAPI controversy wouldn’t happen.

-- TrevorTaylor - 15 Aug 2013