WGISS aims to stimulate, coordinate, and monitor the development of the systems and services which manage and supply the data and information from participating organizations'  missions. WGISS aims to assist CEOS participants, as data providers, to maintain efficient support to diverse users worldwide for easy access and application of that data. Thus, WGISS aims to address the needs of data providers by improving their efficiency of operation and maximizing the usefulness and benefit of the EO data which they gather. WGISS also addresses the needs of data and information users by aiding the development of simpler and wider access to the resources they require.

WGISS places emphasis on the use of demonstration projects involving user groups to solve interoperability issues associated with the achievement of global services. WGISS has developed a number of tools, standards, and services to assist access to and use of Earth observation data resources available online.

Most of the technical work of WGISS is carried out in Interest Groups and Projects.