Oracle Corp. and MapInfo Corp. announced the world’s first Internet-based spatial data analysis solution on Oracle8i.  This solution will help organizations understand and visualize data and quickly identify business patterns and customer trends.  Oracle and MapInfo will integrate MapInfo’s suite of Web-based spatial and mapping products with Oracle8i, the industry’s only Internet database, and Oracle8® Spatial, which provides the capability to manage and analyze geographic data in Oracle8i.

This technology integration is expected to enable new ways for organizations to see and analyze data in their electronic commerce, data warehousing, customer care and call centre applications.  The Oracle and MapInfo combination will take geographic and demographic information beyond their traditional use in geographic information systems (GIS) into data warehouse, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

Oracle, the world’s leading information management company, and MapInfo, the world’s leading business mapping company, have established a technology partnership.  Together, these market-leading companies are in a unique position to break down these technology integration barriers, creating an opportunity to enable widespread deployment of spatial technology throughout key markets such as telecommunications, public service, financial services, retail, real estate, and others.

The Spatial Internet Solution is a group of technologies and data a customer will need to deploy a Web-enabled, location-based spatial application via Oracle8i.  It is the first complete, non-proprietary, pure Java spatial solution for the Internet.  Engineered to be a tightly integrated solution, the Spatial Internet Solution includes Oracle8i, Oracle Spatial, and MapInfo client and server-based software.

Historically, customers have faced significant barriers to the integration of spatial data and related technology with their mainstream information management systems.  Spatial technology solutions have been complex, costly, and proprietary.

These solutions have evolved, isolated from the corporate database.  To date, no single company has been able to provide the complete, open and scalable spatial technology platform that is required to address the emerging market for Web-enabled spatial solutions.

For further information, see the Oracle  web site at www.oracle.com.