As we ponder visions for SDIs and GSDI, the geologists will launch theirs in just a few days. The OneGeology project aims to unites geological information for the entire world on the Web. Sixteen countries are already serving data and the British Geological Survey is leading the way. From the project website:

OneGeology is an international initiative of the geological surveys of the world and a flagship project of the 'International Year of Planet Earth'. Its aim is to create dynamic geological map data of the world available via the web.

So, what's the tech? No magic; just WMS. The site even offers a cookbook that details how to serve up your data in WMS via open source MapServer. And the future vision, if I understand correctly is support for GeoSciML.

The map of participants (80, the latest to join is Rwanda) and those already serving data is here.

The launch will be at the International Geological Congress (IGC) in Oslo, Norway, 6th -14th August 2008. This is the model I hope many other international (even local) "interest groups" can use to share their data. Go geologists!!

- BBC