OWS

From MapbenderWiki

OWS is the acronym for OpenGIS Web Service. OpenGIS (c) is a trademark of the OGC and brand for it's official standards. THe moist Common OWS standards are:

• OGC WMS Web Map Service (produces map images)
• OGC WFS Web Feature Service (delivers and stores geometries)
• OGC WCS Web Coverage Service (delivers and stores pixel raster data)
• OGC CS-W Catalog Services Web (delivers and stores metadata)
• WMTS Web Map Tile Service - not yet official - (delivers map tiles á la GoogleBingYahoo)

There are several other service protocols and interfaces including those from the big three, OpenStreetMap and more in the wilds of the OSGeo community.