Teaching SDI and OGC Ingo Simonis and Christoph Brox Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, Germany simonis@uni-muenster.de , broxc@uni-muenster.de Abstract SDIs from global to local levels rely on standardization and interoperable GI services. In the GI field, factual standards are those from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Therefore, the use and further development of OGC standards are crucial for the success of SDIs. Despite a lack of qualified personnel in OGC issues, OGC topics are rarely included in current GI curricula. In some GI institutes, OGC becomes part of existing courses, but teachers face many problems. How to teach OGC better was the focus of a workshop at the AGILE 2006 conference, organized by the AGILE Education Working Group and the OGC University Working Group. Based on the workshop results, this paper identifies the impediments for teaching OGC and outlines activities for improvements in • Know-how about user requirements • Re-use and sharing of existing resources for e-Learning provision • Open Source system for provision of OGC services and data for education and training. Needs for and impediments to teach OGC Several studies emphasize the economic value of standardization, e.g.: the DIN study (DIN 2000) states that standardization removes trading barriers, provides better cooperation possibilities, and increases the amount of suppliers; the Delphi study (Dephi 2003) concludes that the use of standards improves the return of investment. In the GI field, factual standards are those from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). A survey of the Institute for Geoinformatics (IfGI) asked GI professionals, what they think an essential know-how that Graduates in Geoinformatics should bring into their future jobs (Brox and Pires 2004): ~ 53 % think SDI essential for their future jobs, ~ 43 % OGC/interoperability. These were the highest values only outmatched by core GI topics like GIS, spatial databases and cartography. However, OGC topics, which form the technical basis for SDIs, are rarely represented in current GI curricula. Based on the outcome of the aforementioned studies as well as on own experiences and surveys, we forecast an increasing demand for qualified personnel in OGC topics in the near future. OGC should become a key topic of a modern education in GI Science. As GI reality is moving from monolithic to services oriented systems, students have to learn the background. Technical as well as administrational and political aspects of service oriented architectures shall become part of current curricula. The discussions within the OGC University Working Group show two trends: • Slowly, the demand for OGC know-how affects an increasing integration of some OGC- related seminars into GI education. • The positive effect of the few existing OGC courses already results in pro-active transport of ideas from universities towards the industry and public authorities.