Overview
ISO 19119:2016 - "Geographic information - Services" defines how geographic services are specified and classified to achieve platform-neutral design and platform-specific implementations that are interoperable. It establishes requirements for creating platform‑neutral service specifications, mapping those to platform‑specific specifications, and categorizing services using a flexible service taxonomy (architectural, lifecycle, domain or user‑defined). ISO 19119:2016 supports the Meta:Service foundation of the ISO geographic information reference model described in ISO 19101‑1:2014.
Key technical topics and requirements
- Platform‑neutral and platform‑specific service specifications: Requirements for writing service definitions independently of underlying distributed computing platforms and for mapping neutral specs to technology‑specific implementations.
- Conformance model: Guidance for claiming conformance and for defining conformance classes and requirements across viewpoints.
- Multiple viewpoints: Specifications and rules across enterprise, computational, information, engineering and technology viewpoints to ensure holistic interoperability.
- Service taxonomy and classification: Architectural reference model for categorizing services (boundary, model/information management, workflow/task management, processing, communication, system management/security) and support for lifecycle and user/domain taxonomies.
- Service chaining and orchestration: Modeling, anatomy and patterns for composing services into chains and workflows to deliver complex geospatial processes.
- Semantic interoperability: Information viewpoint provisions for semantic models, metadata and data exchange to ensure shared meaning across services.
- Engineering and technology guidance: Distribution transparencies, multi‑style SOA, REST and Web 2.0 considerations, platform mappings and cloud service category alignment.
- Service metadata and discovery: Requirements for metadata to enable publication, discovery and reuse of services (including Service Organizer Folder concepts).
Practical applications and who should use it
ISO 19119 is practical for organizations building or governing interoperable geospatial service ecosystems:
- GIS architects and solution designers specifying service interfaces and system architectures
- Software developers and integrators implementing geospatial services (REST, SOAP, cloud)
- Data providers and catalog managers publishing discoverable geospatial services and metadata
- Standards bodies, system engineers and IT managers aligning service lifecycles, conformance and interoperability testing
- Enterprises implementing service chaining, workflows, and cross‑platform deployments in cloud or hybrid environments
Use cases include designing interoperable map, processing and data‑access services; mapping platform‑neutral service models to RESTful or SOAP APIs; constructing service catalogs and discovery portals; and implementing secure, scalable geospatial service chains.
Related standards
- ISO 19101‑1 (Geographic information - Reference model) - Meta:Service foundation referenced by ISO 19119
- Standards and profiles for service modeling (SoaML), metadata and web service specifications (REST, OGC/ISO geospatial standards)