Background

IDON technologies has been instrumental in the development of standards for the encoding, storage, access and exchange of maps and charts. This has included working through various of international standards bodies to develop compatible map and chart standards. In particular, IDON Technologies has acted as technical editor of the NATO sponsored Digital Geographic Information Working Group (DGIWG) DIGEST standard, and has been active in the development of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) S-57 standard for Navigational Charts and in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee on Geographic Information / Geomatics (ISO TC211). IDON technologies has performed numerous studies to harmonize these standards and other national and regional standards such as the U.S. SDTS and the Canadian SAIF standard.

IDON Technologies has also worked extensively in the establishment of standards for Information Technology that have lead to public access information services such as the Intenet services, and Groupware services sharing a Common Visual Space. This work has been through the International Organization for Standardization / International Electro Technical Commission Joint Technical Committee (ISO/IEC JTC1), as well as through the UN based International Telegraphic Union (ITU). This has included the establishment of standards for the initial trial public information systems that contributed to the foundation for the World Wide Web. This work was done with ATT, Knight Ridder Publishing, Times Inc., CBS, NBC, Bell Canada, Southam News, and has lead to the establishment of the North American Presentation Level Protocol (NAPLPS).