Webraska sponsored two major industry-lead initiatives aimed at defining and promoting open standards in the LBS and Telematics marketplace : OpenLS and Magic.

OpenLS Initiative

Launched in 2000 by the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC), the OpenLS Initiative was set to allow the successful provision and integration of geospatial data and geoprocessing resources into the location services and telecommunications infrastructure.
The ultimate aim of the OpenLS Initiative was to enable the market with implemented technology products built in accordance with standard interface specifications issued further to comprehensive tests conducted as part of the OpenLS Testbed program.

Major interface specifications (APIs) defined are :

• Navigation Services.
• Directory Services (POI.)
• Presentation Services.
• Location Utility Services.
• Geocoding.
• Reverse Geocoding.
• Gateway services.
• Encoding & Protocols.
• XML for Location Services.
• Interface Encoding.

Webraska has been particularly active in leading the path to a consensus on SOAP implementation as a standard interface protocol. Webraska is the first company in the world to deliver a fully OpenLS standards-compliant geospatial platform.

For additional information : www.openls.org

MAGIC Services Initiative

The MAGIC Services™ Initiative was an industry consortium established to define and promote open industry specifications for delivering navigation, telematics and related geographic information services across multiple networks, platforms and devices. MAGIC Services specifications provide a common language for requesting and receiving location-based services over any network. MAGIC Services rely on XML, making MAGIC Services truly flexible and scalable. With MAGIC Services, services based on location and other spatial relationships can be requested by or delivered to any mobile application.

OpenLS specifications are candidate specifications for MAGIC.

In addition to Webraska, Sponsors of the MAGIC Services Initiative included major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Telematic service suppliers.

For additional information : www.magicservicesforum.org