REDLANDS, California–October 31, 2025—At the 133rd Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) member meeting, the OGC recognized Keith Ryden, director of software development—operations and standards at Esri, with the Kenneth D. Gardels Award. Each year, the award is presented to an individual who has made exemplary contributions to OGC’s consensus standards process.
Ryden has been a longtime member of OGC and has actively contributed to the creation and adoption of several OGC standards over the past 30 years. In 1997, he was part of the team that created the Simple Feature Specification, which standardized how spatial data should be stored in a relational database management system (RDBMS). He has co-chaired efforts to advance and standardize coordinate reference systems to provide locational and temporal frameworks that allow geometric features to be properly positioned in space and time. Ryden is a current member of—and has served multiple terms on—the OGC Architecture Board, which is responsible for reviewing proposed standards and technologies and providing guidance for them as they move through the OGC process.
“I am proud that Keith Ryden is being recognized with this distinguished honor,” said Esri President Jack Dangermond. “I’ve worked with Keith for 40 years, and he’s not only a great engineer—he’s an example for all of us in terms of his integrity and his willingness to collaborate, and the impact of his work will be felt for a long time.”
The Gardels Award memorializes the spirit of Kenneth Gardels, a founding member and director of the OGC, who passed away in 1999. Gardels was renowned for his dedication to making the world a better place through open communication and the use of information technology to improve the quality of human life. The OGC has honored a member of the consortium with the Gardels Award every year since 1999. Ryden is the second Esri employee to receive the award, following David Danko’s recognition in 2009.
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Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial technology and analytics, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions that leverage a geographic approach to solving some of the world’s most complex problems by placing them in the crucial context of location. Visit us at esri.com.
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