Scott Simmons to Lead OGC's Standards Program

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has announced that Scott Simmons will assume the role of executive director, Standards Program as Carl Reed leaves that position at the end of January.

Mark Reichardt, OGC's president and CEO, stated he is extremely fortunate to have Scott Simmons on board as executive director for Standards. Scott has a keen understanding of the OGC's mission and its members and partners. Through his membership involvement over the past decade, Scott has developed an excellent understanding of location technologies and the OGC standards baseline. Through his positions in the private sector, Scott has had the opportunity to implement OGC standards and standards that complement OGC standards in a range of programs worldwide. He brings with him broad domain expertise in key communities of interest including oil and gas, Earth sciences, public safety, and defence, Reichardt noted.

For the last decade, Scott Simmons has been an active member of the OGC. For five years he has chaired the OGC's 3D Information Management (3DIM) Domain Working Group and he has contributed to standards efforts focused on mobility and Web services. His OGC-related research has focused on data lifecycle management, integration, and dissemination.

Simmons was formerly executive director (Technology) for CACI International. At CACI, Simmons' responsibilities included alignment of new business opportunities in the geospatial domain. He was the chief technology officer at TechniGraphics when it was acquired by CACI in 2010.

As a consulting geologist in the areas of structural geology, seismic risk, and geochemistry for GeoSyntec Consultants, Simmons founded and managed that firm's geospatial operations. Prior to that, he worked as an exploration and production geologist in the oil and gas industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Texas and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Southern Methodist University.