Open standards
Open standards are publicly available specifications for data formats, protocols, or interfaces. They are:
- Publicly documented: Complete specifications freely available
- Vendor-neutral: Not controlled by any single company
- Royalty-free: Can be implemented without licensing fees
- Interoperable: Enable different software systems to work together
Open standards are all around us, you make use of them everyday. Think of USB-C, HDMI, tile sizes, wooden beam sizes, railway tracks, or the metric system.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
Section titled “The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)”The OGC develops open standards for geospatial data and services. Some relevant standards are:
- GeoPackage: SQLite-based format for storing geospatial data in a single file
- GeoJSON: JSON-based format for geographic data structures
- Simple Feature Access (SFA): Defines geometric features (points, lines, polygons) in databases
Benefits for geotechnical engineering
Section titled “Benefits for geotechnical engineering”Practical advantages
Section titled “Practical advantages”- No vendor lock-in: Data remains accessible regardless of software vendor decisions
- Cost control: No recurring licensing fees or forced upgrades
- Tool flexibility: Use the best software for each task
- Transparency: Understand how calculations are performed
- Customization: Modify software for specific project requirements
- Integration: Seamless data exchange between different tools
Professional advantages
Section titled “Professional advantages”- Reproducibility: Analysis workflows can be shared and verified
- Peer review: Methods can be independently validated
- Community support: Access to global communities of practice
- Future-proofing: Open formats ensure long-term data accessibility
Traditional vs. open formats
Section titled “Traditional vs. open formats”Traditional geotechnical formats (AGS, DIGGS, GEF) are publicly documented but designed primarily for industry-specific data exchange. Open geospatial standards offer broader compatibility:
- GeoPackage files work with any GIS software
- GeoJSON enables web-based visualization
- OGC standards have broad international support
- Access to the entire geospatial computing ecosystem
Getting started
Section titled “Getting started”- Start small: Use open-source tools for specific tasks (visualization, format conversion)
- Parallel workflows: Run alongside traditional methods for validation
- Export to open formats: Ensure long-term data accessibility
- Join communities: Learn from global user communities
Why this matters
Section titled “Why this matters”Open-source and open standards align with engineering principles of transparency, peer review, and continuous improvement. For geotechnical engineering, they offer a path toward more integrated, flexible workflows in an increasingly data-driven industry.