Created by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), which is comprised of more than 250 companies, OpenGIS is an implementation to extend an SQL database to support spatial data. More about OpenGIS is as follows:

Spatial Data

Having a special extension of a database means that a database is optimized for storing and querying data that represents objects in a geometric space. Data that can be stored in a spatial database could be as simple as points, lines or polygons but also can handle complex structures such as 3D objects, topological coverages and linear networks. These databases require additional functionality to process these data types efficiently.

Spatial Functions

MySQL provides various functions to perform operations on spatial data. There are functions to create geometry values from the well-known text and well-known binary formats as well as functions to convert the values back and forth between the two formats. Furthermore, MySQL comes with functions to access qualitative and quantitative properties, describe relations between two geometry objects, and to create new objects from existing ones.

Uses

Combined with the OpenGIS extension, the uses for spatial data are vast. Spatial data is commonly used in the natural world to map areas or regions but is now becoming popular to map indoor spaces such as malls, hospitals or campus. In addition, spatial data can be used to collect statistics to account for factors such as elevation, distance, and areas. Having spatial data readily available and stored in a safe place will allow companies to easily produce data or calculate statistics.