40 years of EPSG
The geopatial reference the world relies on.
For 40 years, EPSG has helped users define locations with confidence. What began as an industy collaboration has become a foundational geospatial resource used across software, mapping, surveying and spatial data applications worldwide.
Why EPSG matters
EPSG helps people and systems use geospatial data consistently, accurately and at scale.
Trusted definitions
A dependable reference for coordinate systems and transformations.
Global interoperability
Helps software and users work from the same geospatial language.
Quiet infrastructure
Essential to modern mapping and spatial workflows, often behind the scenes.
What is EPSG?
Watch our short explainer video to understand what EPSG is, why it matters, and how it supports consistent geospatial practice across industries and applications.
From industry collaboration to global reference
EPSG is one of those rare resources whose influence far exceeds its visibility. For many users, it simply works in the background, enabling consistency, interoperability and trust.
For IOGP, that is part of its significance. EPSG shows what industry collaboration can achieve when expertise is shared, quality is maintained, and public value is placed at the centre. It is a practical example of how IOGP helps develop resources that support safe, efficient and increasingly connected operations worldwide.
40 years in brief
A few milestones in the evolution of EPSG from industry initiative to global geospatial reference.
Mid-1980s
EPSG begins
Geomatics leaders from major energy companies came together to solve a common problem: the integrity and consistency of geodetic definitions across their systems. That collaboration became EPSG.
1993
First public dataset release
Following review and verification against authoritative definitions, the first public version of the EPSG Dataset was released. It contained just over 500 coordinate reference system definitions
1995 onwards
Wider adoption grows
Adoption accelerated as EPSG codes were used in GeoTIFF and later adopted by the Open Geospatial Consortium as the core of its CRS definitions
2005
EPSG under IOGP stewardship
The European Petroleum Survey Group was reformed under IOGP’s Geomatics Committee, with the acronym EPSG retained as a brand name because of its global recognition.
Today
A global reference
The EPSG Dataset is used across virtually all geospatial domains and is regarded as the de facto global standard for complete, publicly available and reliable geodetic definitions.
EPSG today
Forty years on, EPSG continues to support the way geospatial information is created, shared and used across sectors and disciplines.
Software and platforms
Supports the consistent handling of coordinate reference systems across geospatial tools.
Surveying and mapping
Helps professionals locate, measure and exchange spatial information accurately.
Offshore and infrastructure
Supports geospatial consistency in complex operational and engineering environments.
Data exchange and interoperability
Makes it easier for organisations and systems to work from the same spatial reference framework.
What EPSG means to our Members and the industry.
The Standard You Don’t See: EPSG at the Heart of Global Geospatial Data
Josh Townsend, bp
The Standard Behind the Standards: Why OGC Relies on EPSG
Scott Simmonds, OGC
One Standard, Shared Confidence: EPSG at Petrobras
Rafael Genro, Petrobras
Precision at Scale: How PETRONAS Uses EPSG to Power Accurate Decisions
M Zairi M Yusof, PETRONAS
Working from the Same Coordinates: EPSG at Shell
Bert Kampes, Shell
Explore EPSG
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