Geoshare’s three-year plan is coming to the end of its term – and the upcoming PNEC conference to be held in Houston from the 15th to 17th April will as usual be hosting the Geoshare AGM. To give Geoshare members some food for thought, POSC has made a pre-emptive bid for ongoing support of the Geoshare standard.
Legalistic
POSC’s offer, which is couched in near-legalistic jargon – claims that both organizations support ‘collaboration and adding value in the oil and gas industry.’ The POSC proposal recognizes the value of ‘preserving the stability and continued viability of Geoshare.’
Mature
According to the POSC analysis, Geoshare technology is mature and stable but that it is increasingly hard to resource the initiative through the current volunteer model. POSC proposes a three-point plan for Geoshare.
Change management
POSC will operate the change management and publication services related to the data model and will create a framework for managing sharable implementation resources using an open source registry model where appropriate.
New technology
POSC will include discussion about new technology and Geoshare in its overall planning procedure conducted with members and industry. This will ensure ‘clarity of plans and full involvement of Geoshare users in all decisions.’
Membership
Geoshare User Group members will initially become POSC Geoshare members, a new category of membership, operating under similar membership rules, terms, etc. to current Geoshare User Group practices. With advice from the POSC Geoshare members, POSC may revise these terms in the future.
Vision?
What may be lacking in the POSC offering is a vision of what Geoshare could become. The fate of the Schlumberger-owned Geoshare development kit is also unmentioned in the context of the POSC proposal. It would seem desirable that whoever is to own Geoshare should maintain the dev kit. POSC’s position as custodian of the underlying ex-API RP66 standard argues in favor of the initiative. But generally, the proposal reads like an offering of good accommodation – in a retirement home!