—Nuke Goldstein, the Carbon Project
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has a draft specification for GeoSynchronization Services (GSS), which is defined as the ability to synchronize two or more geospatial databases with each other. It uses the ATOM Publishing Protocol to connect to a Web Feature Service Transactional (WFS-T), an OGC interface, and messages based on standards-based Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and Atom format encodings. GSS is a powerful capability that uses open standards and is agnostic to the underlying database. The system defines user roles, such as publisher and reviewer, as well as synchronization management rules allowing for deployment in complex enterprise settings. This capability was initially tested by the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) Interoperability Pilot in 2007 and is being adopted in operational settings in Canada. In 2009 the US Army Corps of Engineers has invested in further investigating the technology and emerging standards.