--- title: "Many agencies, one picture | Nexus Observatory" description: "No single agency observes everything it needs. Federation lets each keep its own systems and still share: common interfaces…" url: https://observatory.global/stories/federation/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-31 --- [Stories](https://observatory.global/stories/)System: Federation across agencies # Many agencies, one picture No single agency observes everything it needs. Federation lets each keep its own systems and still share: common interfaces, common catalogues and common alert formats123. Meteorology has worked this way for generations4. **Systems**: Open interfaces, Shared catalogues, Common alerting **Toward 2030**: Early warnings for everyone **Figures**: 3, map story, systems diagram, timeline to 2030 Go to the references **01** Map story ## A federation spans borders. Federated nodes sit where the institutions are; the links between them are agreements before they are cables. The global meteorological exchange is the oldest example, now rebuilt on open web standards4. Figure as text: Federated nodes and exchange links A wireframe globe over the North Atlantic with five federated nodes in North America and Europe linked by arcs carrying red packets. - Ottawa (45.4° N, 75.7° W) - Washington (38.9° N, 77.0° W) - Geneva (46.2° N, 6.1° E) - Reading (51.5° N, 1.0° W) - Bonn (50.7° N, 7.1° E) **02** Systems diagram ## No single point of failure. Each agency publishes through open interfaces and a catalogue; others read what they are entitled to. If one agency goes offline, its neighbours still serve their own data and cached copies of shared products. Take an agency down and read what still flows. Figure as text: Three agencies federated through shared services A four-tier diagram: three agencies’ observation systems, their publication interfaces, shared catalogue and alert hub, and the users. - **Agency systems** : Hydrology, Meteorology, Civil protection - **Interfaces** : API, API, API - **Shared services** : Catalogue, Alert hub - **Users** : Public, Responders 12 links. Scenarios: All agencies online; Meteorology offline; Alert hub down. **03** Timeline to 2030 ## Thirty years of shared standards. European spatial data law made interoperability a legal obligation in 20075; the alert format of 2010 is carried by sirens, phones and broadcasters alike3; catalogues and feature interfaces made discovery a web request21. The horizon is the 2027 goal of early warnings for everyone6. Figure as text: Federation standards and commitments A timeline from 2007 to 2030 with INSPIRE, CAP 1.2, the Sendai Framework, OGC API Features, STAC 1.0, WIS2 and Early Warnings for All. 1. **2007-03** INSPIRE directive. Interoperable spatial data across the European Union. 5 2. **2010-07** Common Alerting Protocol 1.2 (CAP 1.2). One format for public warnings. 3 3. **2015-03** Sendai Framework. Global targets for disaster risk reduction to 2030. 7 4. **2019-10** OGC API Features. Geospatial features as web resources. 1 5. **2021-05** STAC 1.0. Catalogues of spatiotemporal assets. 2 6. **2025-01** WMO Information System 2.0. Global exchange of weather and climate data on open web standards. 4 7. **2027-12** Early warnings for everyone. The United Nations target date. 6 Figure 1 Map story Figure 1. Federated nodes and exchange links. A wireframe globe over the North Atlantic with five federated nodes in North America and Europe linked by arcs carrying red packets. ## References 1. [OGC API – Features – Part 1: Core](https://www.ogc.org/standards/ogcapi-features/) . Open Geospatial Consortium, 2019. 2. [SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog specification 1.0.0](https://stacspec.org) . STAC community, 2021. 3. [Common Alerting Protocol version 1.2](https://docs.oasis-open.org/emergency/cap/v1.2/CAP-v1.2-os.html) . OASIS, 2010. 4. [WMO Information System 2.0 (WIS2)](https://community.wmo.int/en/activity-areas/wis) . World Meteorological Organization, 2025. 5. [Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2007/2/oj) . Official Journal of the European Union, 2007. 6. [Early Warnings for All: Executive Action Plan 2023–2027](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/early-warnings-for-all) . United Nations and World Meteorological Organization, 2022. 7. [Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030](https://www.undrr.org/publication/sendai-framework-disaster-risk-reduction-2015-2030) . United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015. ## Related stories [Place: River basin and floods **Rising water, counted in metres** A flood map is a sentence about the future: this ground lies below that level. Gauges along the valley, a weather station and a terrain model turn the…](https://observatory.global/stories/river-floods/) [System: End to end **An observation grid, end to end** An observation is not a reading. It is a reading with a place, a time, a calibration and a path that anyone can follow back. An observing grid is the…](https://observatory.global/stories/observation-grid/) [System: Data provenance chain **From sensor to record** A published observation should carry its own history: which instrument made it, when, under which calibration, and every step since. The web already has a…](https://observatory.global/stories/provenance/) ## Where this applies [Data & licensing](https://observatory.global/data-products/)[Observatory Protocol](https://observatory.global/earth-observation/)[Design and integration](https://observatory.global/#lines)[Security and trust](https://observatory.global/#lines)[Government](https://observatory.global/industries/government/)[Public safety](https://observatory.global/industries/public-safety/)[Humanitarian](https://observatory.global/industries/humanitarian/)[Climate](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/)[Field tour: river basin](https://observatory.global/environments/river-basin/) © 2026 Nexus Observatory Inc. **Legal** [Privacy notice](https://observatory.global/legal/privacy/) · [Terms of use](https://observatory.global/legal/terms/) · [Cookie policy](https://observatory.global/legal/cookies/) · [Accessibility](https://observatory.global/legal/accessibility/) · [Official languages](https://observatory.global/official-languages/) · [Notices](https://observatory.global/notices/) **Company** [About](https://observatory.global/about/) · [Open governance](https://observatory.global/consortium/) · [Contact](https://observatory.global/contact/)