Athina Trakas new OGC Director European Services

25 March 2009, 5:00pm

March 25, 2009, Wayland, Massachusetts. The Open Geospatial Consortium OGC® announced that Athina Trakas has been appointed as Director
European Services for the OGC. In her new position, Ms. Trakas will plan and manage OGC outreach and recruitment in Europe, working out of the OGC's Bonn office.

"In her previous activities, Athina has been an extraordinary asset to the OGC," said Mark Reichardt, OGC's President and CEO, "and we are
fortunate indeed to have her on staff now, working full time to advance the goals of the Consortium in Europe. European membership in
the OGC recently surpassed North American membership, and we anticipate a lot of activity as European companies and organizations seek to evolve geospatial standards that address European needs."

Athina Trakas has worked part time for the OGC since August 2006. During this time she also served as Director of Business Development
and Marketing for WhereGroup GmbH & Co. KG, where she was responsible for activities concerning cooperation with institutions
and organizations on a national and international level. In that role, she promoted standardized WebGIS solutions - including OGC Web Services (OWS) standards - as well as open source software. Prior to that position, from 1998 to 2006 she served CCGIS (Consulting Center for Geographical Information Systems) in a variety of management roles as the company evolved from start-up to a successful consultancy. In
2007, CCGIS merged with Karta.Go and Geo¬Consortium to form WhereGroup. Athina has also worked for the German Cultural Council.
She holds a degree in Geography from the University of Bonn.

"Building on my experience and close contacts with OGC members and other organisations in Europe, I am excited to have this opportunity
to further the mission and goals of the OGC," said Athina. "The heterogenous environment of Europe in administration, business and
academia is a fertile field for interoperability initiatives and I look forward to working with our European members to bring new requirements and ideas into the OGC process."

Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)

Geo: International