GeOxygene: Built on Top of the Expertise of the French NMA to Host and Share Advanced GI Science Research Results

Back to the 80s and 90s, researchers at the COGIT laboratory of the French National Mapping Agency often developed their own vector platforms dedicated to their respective research purposes like generalization, integration or 3D. This multiplicity of platforms became an obstacle to many important research activities like capitalizing and sharing. In 2000, based on ISO/OGC standard for data exchange, the COGIT laboratory decided to invest in the development of an ad hoc interoperable GIS platform that would host most of its research developments. This platform, called GeOxygene, was designed to have a rich data model and a genuine programming language to manipulate data. It facilitates the design and prototyping of processes which geographical data model are object oriented. It is also intended to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and programming efforts with other research labs. It is also shared through regular open source releases. This paper highlights the relevance for a research team like COGIT to contribute to Open Source software.