Java Location Services: Working to Bring GeoSpatial Technology to the Internet

By Carl Reed - article first appeared at Sun's Java Location Services web portal

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Application Service Provision in Utilities

Utilities have extensive human resources committed to infrastructure development and maintenance. These resources are costly. Any technology or process that optimizes their impact, improves customer service, and/or reduces costs is seriously considered by a Utility. Therefore, applications such as fleet management, routing, and field data entry are critical.

Many of these applications require spatial data. A new generation of hand held field appliances is becoming available, providing quick and accurate location information to staff in the field. These devices are being connected with the more traditional centralized applications, such as fleet management. One example is "map chunks" on demand. In this scenario, the user can download on demand the geospatial data for an area of interest. Typically, the downloaded data is stored on some hand held device or appliance, such as a Palm Pilot. The user then uses a local application to view and query the geospatial data.

Products from several GIS vendors support this. The implementation platform of choice is Java. Newer generation product releases now also allow the user in the field to red line new information on the displayed map, and to then upload the new data to the enterprise database.

Many of these applications require spatial data. A new generation of hand held field appliances is becoming available, providing quick and accurate location information to staff in the field. These devices are being connected with the more traditional centralized applications, such as fleet management. One example is "map chunks" on demand. In this scenario, the user can download on demand the geospatial data for an area of interest. Typically, the downloaded data is stored on some hand held device or appliance, such as a Palm Pilot. The user then uses a local application to view and query the geospatial data. Products from several GIS vendors support this. The implementation platform of choice is Java. Newer generation product releases now also allow the user in the field to red line new information on the displayed map, and to then upload the new data to the enterprise database.

There is an emerging group of new companies and technologies that are taking application service provision to the next level for their Utility clients. Why should a Utility have to worry about providing the applets for the field appliances? Similarly, why should the Utility have to worry about and incur the costs related to the communications and Internet backbone necessary to support real time deployment of applications to the field? The answer is: they should not… Utilities can turn to a service provider for these services.

These new service providers are looking to offer on demand Java based applets and components that can be downloaded to field appliances or laptops from a central, controlled location. In this way, each field unit always has access to the latest version of the application - a real issue when thousands of units have been deployed. These companies are evolving to be ASPs for the Utility industry, where they would host components, applets, and data and provide the complete infrastructure required for the delivery of a wide range of application services.

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Contents:

• Introduction
• Why A Java Location Services Web Site?
• Examples of "GeoJava" Applications
• Application Service Provision in Telephony
• Application Service Provision in Utilities
• Java, XML and the GIS Standards World
• In Conclusion: Has Java gone full circle?

This article is the property of Carl Reed - (c)2000. All rights reserved. Any copying or reproduction of the article in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.