The name change is well timed, because the industry changes have only just begun. Thus, technology users and providers who haven't acted on this trend still have opportunities to get in the game early and help shape geoprocessing's future. The major database software companies have extended their software to enable efficient storage and retrieval of complex geographic information.
Online databases figure prominently in Internet computing architectures.
OGC was created to liberate GIS users and their data from proprietary systems. Vendors joined to open the market. Some say the communications revolution has destroyed distance. But Earth isn't shrinking, and distance and geography always will be part of life and business. Despite the fact that bits know no bounds, in our real world of atoms, everyone and everythin g are somewhere.