Organização sem fins-lucrativos formada por +/- 380 instituições voluntárias de vários países que, desde 1994, define padrões de:

• Conteúdo e de serviços geoespaciais
• Processamento de dados SIG
• Compartilhamento de dados

• WMS - Web Map Service: mapas em forma de imagens.
• WFS - Web Feature Service: Manipular features descriptions.
• WCS - Web Coverage Service: Provide coverage objects from a specified region.
• WPS - Web Processing Service: Remote processing service.
• CSW - Web Catalog Service: Access to catalog information.
• SFS - Simple Features - SQL
• GML - Geography Markup Language: XML format for geographical information.
• KML - Keyhole Markup Language: XML-based language schema for expressing geographic annotation and visualization on existing or future Web-based, two-dimensional maps and three-dimensional Earth browsers.
• OWS - OGC Web Service Common

These were originally designed around the HTTP web services paradigm for message-based interactions in web-based systems. However, in the last year the members have been working on defining a common approach for SOAP protocol and WSDL bindings. There has also been considerable work and progress in defining Representational State Transfer web services..

• É um padrão de interface para transporte de dados geográficos na Web.
• Usa chamadas independentes de plataforma.