Standards - in the case of the Open Geospatial Consortium Inc. 'open' ones - created in the creative tension of consensus amongst software providers, users and academics have become a staple as the information revolution sweeps the world. But those standards, as necessary as they are, are not sufficient by themselves. On the one hand they rely on everyday Information Technology standards such as TCP/IP and XML but those issues are in hand. There are a multitude of technical challenges in such fields as semantics, and sensors, but the fertile ground in best using the geospatial intelligence that is available is not one of bits and bytes, but dollars and cents and how government procures these data and services. The OGC passed the technical tipping point a couple of years ago and the governments of the world are getting close today, but it is not yet a fait accompli. Where are standards technically and how is that related to shifting the balance to tip the balance beam of government procurement? Mr Bacharach will build a foundation and propose the next steps that governments should take to solidify their ability to make the best of limited funds in these challenging times.