Appraisal Institute

Each group addresses the data needs of different stakeholders,explains Sam Bacharach, executive director of the Wayland, MA-basedOGC, an industry consortium supporting interoperable solutions that"geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services andmainstream IT. He continues, "Data standards represent agreement.The agreement is one between individual firms—often, competitors—touse a common format for data interchange. This agreement does notthreaten any competitive advantage held by these firms. Rather,reducing unnecessary complexity in an area common to all firmsallows innovators to concentrate on their core competencies."

But for the uninitiated, the challenge is understanding thedifferent roles of each group. GlobeSt.com asked Bacharach for aguide to the multiple organizations. So here's a primer to help yousort it out.