The Open Geospatial Consortium has opened up its membership to individuals for the first time.

According to the OGC, individual membership provides a more direct pathway for practitioners to participate directly in working groups, code sprints, testbeds and ongoing collaborations.

This includes independent developers, consultants, professionals and students.

“OGC has always been powered by remarkable professionals — engineers, system architects, researchers, and developers from around the world who participate through our organisational members,” said Richard Estephan, OGC’s Senior Director of Member Success and Development.

“The depth of expertise and global character of this community are among our greatest strengths.”

Estephan says the development will also give the OGC an opportunity to strengthen its geographic reach.

“OGC has long been global, but participation is stronger in some regions than others,” he said.

“For example, there is tremendous talent across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, and we want more of those voices shaping this community.

“Broader geographic participation makes the work more resilient and more relevant.”

“This launch isn’t about changing who we are,” he added. “It’s about widening the circle — technically and geographically.”

“More practitioners. More perspectives. More places represented in the room.”

Those interested in taking up individual OGC membership can save 25% on their membership fee by joining before 30 April, using the promo code OGC25 during the application process.