Oracle and Sun Developing E-9-1-1 Applications - Sun Microsystems - Brief Article

Wireless Internet, August, 2001

Oracle and other key vendors are pushing forward on technology designed to spur location-based services, despite evidence that a pivotal part of this wireless movement has slowed down.

That key component is the federal government's Enhanced 9-1-1 effort, which would enable large carriers to automatically pinpoint the whereabouts of a cell-phone caller in distress. E-9-l-1 has hit problems, mostly because of its high cost and complexity for major wireless carriers.

But Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and others are forging ahead with tools that third-party vendors can use to design location-based applications. Oracle and others now say they are out to drive applications that could potentially boost mobile commerce. Oracle recently announced that 20 developers had signed on to develop location-based content and capabilities using Oracle9iAS database.

"There is a misperception that [E-9-1-1 capabilities] are required to do location-based services," said Jacob Christfort, chief technology officer and vice president of OracleMobile. Instead of waiting for E-9-1-1 to jump start it, the market needs ways to present information in a location-based fashion, which would promote applications in which users feed systems with data of their whereabouts, said Christfort.

For large enterprises this equates to stepped-up sales force automation (SFA) efforts and more effective order tracking, among other potential improvements, said Mitch Mitchell of A.T. Kearney.

Meanwhile, Sun detailed at SuperComm 2001 a location-based API as part of its Java 2 technology for service providers. JTSP includes an architectural framework, APIs, and compatibility testing for Java-based networking solutions.

"I think the hope of the industry is that E-9-1-1 will lead the way for [mobile commerce]. But even though E-9-1-1 has slowed down," there is still a market for location-based services applications, said Sun's Doug Tait.