OGC Announces Management Team Reorganization.

WAYLAND, Mass. -- David Schell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today the appointment of Mark Reichardt to the newly created position of President & Chief Operating Officer. In this capacity Mr. Reichardt will assume day-to-day operational management of the company and responsibility for implementation of the corporate business plan. In his new position Mr. Reichardt is also appointed to the OGC Board of Directors and will serve on the board's Executive Committee.

Mr. Reichardt has served OGC since 2000 as Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption Programs, a position that he created and developed into an innovative and effective force for change within the geospatial community. His responsibilities included marketing communications, corporate information technology operations, global outreach and member support programs.

In making this announcement, Mr. Schell, who has served as both CEO and President of OGC since its founding in 1994, commented, "The restructuring of the OGC management team is part of a realignment of the organization to emphasize the importance of both strategic planning and effective management as OGC standards achieve wider acceptance in global markets. I look forward with pleasure to working with Mark in his new capacity - his proven leadership will provide the organization with the energy and management talent needed to effectively serve our worldwide membership community and enable OGC to accomplish its varied and challenging mission objectives."

As CEO, Mr. Schell will continue to act as Chairman of the OGC Board of Directors, focusing primarily on strategic planning and corporate development, as well as the creation of key strategic relationships and member consensus in support of OGC's worldwide programs.

Appointment of Mark Reichardt to the newly redefined position of President reflects the OGC board's desire to ensure continued commitment to development of OpenGIS(R) Specifications in close coordination with programs and alliances aimed at achieving accelerated user community adoption and related member recruitment in strategic market sectors. As President, Mr. Reichardt will also focus on establishing the relevance of OGC's reference architecture to industry-wide enterprise IT programs and expanding the consortium's global presence and membership. In assuming management of OGC's operations, Mr. Reichardt will draw on experience gained during his 24-year career in geospatial production, technology development, and professional educational programs, working with government, university and international non-governmental organizations to solve complex management problems involving geospatial information.

Before joining the OGC, Mr. Reichardt was involved in mapping technology modernization and production programs for the Department of Defense. In 1998, Mr. Reichardt accepted a temporary assignment with the Vice President's National Partnership for Reinventing Government to improve federal-to-local coordination in the use of geospatial information and technologies for improved government service and decision-making. He also established and led an International Spatial Data Infrastructure program with the Federal Geographic Data Committee. This program delivered SDI training to government representatives in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Mr. Reichardt helped establish several international collaborative agreements to advance proven practices regarding Spatial Data Infrastructure. He presently serves as a member of the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association Board of Directors.

Mr. Sam Bacharach, previously Program Manager and standards community liaison, has been promoted to replace Mr. Reichardt as Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption Programs. Mr. Bacharach has worked with OGC for many years in both member and staff capacities, and has had a long career in spatial technologies in both the public and private sectors. After retiring from the Army in 1994, where he served as a topographic engineer, Mr. Bacharach worked in various industry capacities before joining OGC staff in April 2000. At OGC, he has been active in member consensus activities and responsible for representing OGC in key standards organizations, most notably ISO Technical Committee 211. He has also managed key interoperability initiatives and has extensively represented the OGC community at industry events around the world. Mr. Bacharach has an undergraduate degree in Journalism and a Master of Science degree in Geography, both from the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID.

The OGC is an international voluntary consensus standards organization of 250 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing interface specifications. OpenGIS Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT.