GeoSPARQL Standards Working Group Meeting Minutes

Meeting Details

Meeting Date: 02/04/2026

Meeting Time: 2000 UTC

Meeting Location: Microsoft Teams

Attendees

Attendee Moniker
Jo Abhayaratna JA
Matthew Perry MP
Timo Homburg TH
Nicholas Car NC

Note Takers

  • MP (assisted by Teams transcription)

Action Items From Last Meetings

| Done? | Item | Responsible | Due Date | | —- | —- | —- | — |

Discussion Items

Time Item Who Notes
2000 Meeting setup and administration JA, MP
  • JA confirmed the meeting is now scheduled in UTC to avoid daylight savings issues.
  • Recording and transcription confirmed.
  • Chairing handed over to MP for the main part of the meeting.
2005 Roll call and call for patents MP
  • Roll call completed.
  • No patents declared.
2010 Building Blocks and compliance benchmark update TH
  • TH reported on follow‑up discussions with Rob Atkinson regarding Building Blocks.
  • Outlined proposed approach for documenting GeoSPARQL functions as Building Blocks, including examples, queries, and validation assets.
  • Agreement that function representation in Building Blocks is an open design question requiring further experimentation.
2030 ISO GeoSPARQL standardisation progress NC
  • NC reported ongoing work on the ISO version of GeoSPARQL.
  • Identified broken links and minor administrative issues in GeoSPARQL 1.1 requiring correction.
  • Confirmed that changes are non‑normative and primarily structural and terminological.
2040 Repository hygiene and Rainbow alignment NC, TH
  • Discussion on aligning GitHub repository structure with resources deployed to OGC Rainbow.
  • Agreement to group RDF artefacts consistently and introduce manifest files per version.
  • TH confirmed feasibility of updating CI scripts to support the new structure.
2100 Implementation experience and performance concerns NC, TH, MP, JA
  • NC reported that several triple stores implement GeoSPARQL functions non‑performantly at scale.
  • Consensus that this is primarily an implementation issue rather than a standards compliance issue.
  • Discussion on whether performance benchmarks should exist alongside compliance benchmarks.
2120 Governance, Rainbow, and OGC engagement JA
  • JA discussed the need for clearer governance and resourcing around OGC Rainbow.
  • Highlighted the importance of demonstrating real usage to secure continued investment.
  • Planned follow‑up discussions with OGC leadership to raise awareness of GeoSPARQL needs.
2155 Close All MEETING ENDS

Action Items

# Item Responsible Due Date
1 Create initial Building Blocks examples for GeoSPARQL functions TH Next Meeting
2 Circulate draft ISO GeoSPARQL content highlighting non‑normative changes NC Next Meeting
3 Audit GeoSPARQL 1.1 RDF resources and align repository structure with Rainbow deployments NC, TH Next Meeting
4 Engage OGC leadership on Rainbow governance, resourcing, and roadmap visibility JA Ongoing