GeoParquet (https://geoparquet.org/) is a cloud-native format created to address the geospatial interoperability issues between data warehouses. It is based on the widely supported columnar storage Apache Parquet (https://parquet.apache.org/), extending it to add support for geometry data types (e.g.: points, lines and polygons). Although a relatively recent format, it already has a good ecosystem of tools, and it took Standardisation very seriously by joining the path to become an OGC Standard (https://github.com/opengeospatial/geoparquet).

The eMOTIONAL Cities project (https://emotionalcities-h2020.eu/) aims to understand how the natural and built environment can shape the feelings and emotions of those who experience it. At its core, lies a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), which combines a variety of datasets from the Urban Health domain (https://emotional.byteroad.net/). These datasets should be available to urban planners, neuroscientists and other stakeholders, for analysis, creating data products and eventually making decisions based upon them. To support an efficient analysis, especially of the larger datasets, we have decided to offer GeoParquet as an alternate encoding. In this talk we share our experience, converting and publishing the +90 datasets of the eMOTIONAL Cities SDI using a stack of FOSS/OSGeo software (GDAL, gpq, pygeoapi).

We will show that there is already a set of (FOSS) tools in place (e.g.: readers, writers, validators) to support this task and to encourage others to add a Standards-based cloud-native format to their SDIs.

pygeoapi is an OGC API Reference Implementation. Implemented in Python, pygeoapi supports numerous OGC APIs via a core agnostic API, different web frameworks (Flask, Starlette, Django) and a fully integrated OpenAPI capability. Lightweight, easy to deploy and cloud-ready, pygeoapi's architecture facilitates publishing datasets and processes from multiple sources. The project also provides an extensible plugin framework, enabling developers to implement custom data adapters, filters and processes to meet their specific requirements and workflows. pygeoapi also supports the STAC specification in support of static data publishing.

pygeoapi has a significant install base around the world, with numerous projects in academia, government and industry deployments. The project is also an OGC API Reference Implementation, lowering the barrier to publishing geospatial data for all users.

This presentation will provide an update on the current status, latest developments in the project, including new core features and plugins. In addition, the presentation will highlight key projects using pygeoapi for geospatial data discovery, access and visualization.

Tiled maps are well-known for their performance and have been present in web map applications for more than twenty years. Vector tiles combine all the benefits of map tiling with the ability to access attributes, enabling client side attribute-based rendering. This makes them one of the most efficient ways of visualising vector data, and they are present in many interactive web maps that we see on the web today.

However the proliferation of web map applications has often resulted in a lack of interoperability between tile servers and clients. This was the motivation for the OGC API - Tiles Standard (https://tiles.developer.ogc.org/), published in late 2022. The core of this Standard is very simple, adding some formality to what people have been doing for years with XYZ tilesets, while specifying some metadata elements that help clients do a better job at creating maps (e.g.: title, description, zoom levels, custom projection).

In this talk we will present a software stack to render OGC compliant vector tiles. This stack includes pygeoapi (https://pygeoapi.io/), an OSGeo project and a Reference Implementation for OGC API - Tiles (https://www.ogc.org/resources/product-details/?pid=1663). The architecture of pygeoapi supports backend plugins, which use different software for storing and accessing geospatial data. For the purpose of creating vector tiles, we will present the MVT-elastic plugin (https://github.com/geopython/pygeoapi/blob/master/pygeoapi/provider/mvt_elastic.py), which leverages the Elasticsearch capability of rendering vector tiles on the fly, from geospatial data stored in an Elasticsearch index. Elasticsearch (https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch) is a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine. Recently, this plugin also became capable of exposing the attributes associated with the data, enabling client side styling of attributes. These capabilities can be demonstrated by creating a Leaflet map that consumes and styles the pygeoapi+elastic vector tiles (https://emotional-cities.github.io/vtiles-example/demo-oat.htm).

We hope that this presentation can make the creation of fast, expressive and interoperable maps, accessible to anyone.

Open Software and Open Standards are complementary pieces of the geospatial ecosystem. In January 2022, OSGeo and OGC signed a new and updated version of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to maximize the achievement of the mission and goals of both organizations. Execution of joint Code Sprints, identifying free and open source technologies that could be used as Reference Implementations for OGC Standards and validating OGC compliance tests are examples of activities that can take place within the scope of the agreement.

In the first year after the agreement was signed, we established the basilar stones for the OSGeo membership within OGC and promoted the related activities within OSGeo. Now we start to see an increasing interest from both sides and some outcomes which are important to highlight.

This presentation will provide an overview of all activities accomplished under the MoU over the last year, as well as discuss future plans. For those who have been distracted, it will reiterate the benefits of the agreement, which allows OSGeo charter members to represent the priorities of OSGeo in the development of OGC Standards and supporting documents and services.

MoU: https://www.osgeo.org/wp-content/uploads/MOU_OGC_OSGeo_2022_signed.pdf
Joint Code Sprint 2024: https://developer.ogc.org/sprints/23/
TeamEngine: https://www.osgeo.org/projects/teamengine/