The MilitaryHOMEFRONT now offers mobile capability enabling anyone with supported mobile devices (Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Treo) to use the mobile version of the website (http://militaryinstallations.dod.mil/mobile/). The application assists the military community to locate, learn about, and travel to a variety of Programs and Services located on over 250 military installations worldwide. For example, users with a mobile device can route from an airport to a specific service on a base by using their everyday mobile device. They can then locate “points of interest” such as banks, ATM’s, restaurants, museums etc that are situated around the military base. Via their mobile device the user can also view the latest weather reports for the area being visited. This mobile application has become a “one stop” service for all military personnel that are travelling and need information about Programs and Services at base level.

The MilitaryINSTALLATIONS application has been developed using eSpatial’s iSMART product on an Oracle 10g Spatial platform including locations services. Worldwide data for the system is provided using NAVTEQ’s Streets and “Points of Interest” (POI) dataset. This dataset has been augmented with additional application specific data related to the available base services, plus links to associated websites and additional information.

The Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel & Readiness, Military Community & Family Policy first launched the MilitaryHOMEFRONT web-based central point of access (www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil or www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil) in August 2006 to assist the service members and their families to better understand available services and facilities around military bases.

The application utilizes iSMART’s advanced web mapping techniques to provide a seamless user interface including AJAX for map display, mouse-over pop-ups of information on services and POI’s. Oracle’s Location Based Services, together with the NAVTEQ data are used to provide geocoding routing services.

Philip O’Doherty, CEO eSpatial, “eSpatial is proud to be associated with the MilitaryHOMEFRONT portal. One of the benefits of the approach is the ability to extend the architecture to provide services to other parts of the US DoD using the same data and application. eSpatial believes that the Military HOMEFRONT applications illustrates how centrally managed but globally delivered mapping applications can be provided in the future.”

Eamon Walsh, CTO eSpatial added “The iSMART architecture enables our customers to provide a variety of multi-user services based on very large seamless world-coverage spatial databases”.

“We are excited about the capabilities this system provides us with, especially on a new mobile platform as we can truly support troops and their families on the move” said Lieutenant Colonel R. Lao, Program Manager, “What surprised us the most was how fast eSpatial could leverage the existing MilitaryInstallations application and the enterprise geospatial platform to deploy to mobile devices.

About MilitaryHOMEFRONT

MilitaryHOMEFRONT and MilitaryInstallations web portals are the central, trusted, and up-to-date source for Service members and their families to obtain information about all Department of Defense Quality of Life programs and services. The site is a service of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Dr. David S. C. Chu. Dr. Chu is the principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for Total Force Management as it relates to National Guard and Reserve component affairs, health affairs, training, and personnel requirements and management including equal opportunity, morale, welfare, recreation, and quality of life matters.

About eSpatial
eSpatial is a global software and consulting company specializing in GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and Location Services. eSpatial leverages ten years of Oracle Spatial experience to deliver sophisticated and powerful web applications. We have a consistent track record of cost-effective solutions that deliver significant return on investment for our customers. iSMART(r), our award winning software suite, is the most comprehensive solution to complement Oracle's Spatial technology platform and is fast becoming the first choice for Oracle Spatial.
eSpatial enables customers to realize the potential in on-line mapping and location applications that support and integrate with real-world internal and external business systems. We have a global partner and customer-base that is growing rapidly. This is testament to our commitment to flexibility and responsiveness in ensuring faster time to market for enterprise grade system deployment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: 
www.espatial.com

Note: this announcemnt was made at GITA 30 in San Antonio, TX