OGC moves Google's KML closer to a standard
- By Patrick Marshall
- Jun 13, 2007
The Open Geospatial Consortium has dubbed Google's Keyhole Markup Language ' the language used for developing Google Earth ' a best practice and is working with Google and other OGC members including ESRI and Autodesk to make sure KML integrates well with such other standards as the Geographic Markup Language.
Microsoft ' which is continuing development of its Web-based mapping product, Microsoft Virtual Earth ' is not currently an OGC member, though it is expected to join soon.
Google offered KML 2.1 to the consortium last April and is working closely with OGC in further development of the language.
An OGC official said the main advantages of making KML a standard are that it speeds development of Web-based mapping applications, encourages greater interoperability of products and ensures easier movement of data between applications.
OGC expects KML 3.0 to be released as a standard early next year.
About the Author
Patrick Marshall is freelance technology writer for GCN.