In keeping with the Oracle mission to help people see data in new ways, discover insights, unlock endless possibilities, customers wishing to use the Machine Learning, Spatial and Graph features of Oracle Database are no longer required to purchase additional licenses.  

For decades, Oracle Database has included industry-leading multi-model and analytic capabilities.  Oracle’s converged database architecture supports multiple data types and data models (e.g. spatial, graph, JSON, XML) and algorithms (e.g. machine learning, graph and statistical functions) and workload types (e.g. operational and analytical) within a single database.  While many of these capabilities are included in Oracle Database products and cloud services today, it is our goal that all developers have the ability to use these advanced development APIs. The core spatial features in Oracle Spatial have been included in Oracle Database Locator feature for over a decade. Now, all Oracle Spatial capabilities are available with both Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition 2.

All Spatial features are included

Spatial features now available for development and deployment with Oracle Database includes:

  • 2D and 3D geometry data types to represent locations, regions, and other geometries
  • All spatial functions and operators 
  • Map authoring tools 
  • Sensor and imagery data support with Point Cloud, LiDAR and GeoRaster data types and operators 
  • Networks and parcel data management with Linear Referencing, Network and Topology data models 
  • Geocoder, Routing Server, Tracking Server, Map Server 
  • Open Geospatial Consortium web service APIs
    and
  • Spatial Studio, a self-service, no-code/low-code map canvas and spatial analysis tools 

What you can do with Spatial

At the simplest level,  spatial analysis enables better understanding of complex interactions based on geographic relationships.  This can be important to virtually every application; it can help provide better customer service, optimize the workforce, easily locate retail and distribution centers, evaluate sales and marketing campaigns, just to name a few!

Every Oracle Database now includes comprehensive spatial analytics and data models.  For traditional business analysis, you can perform queries based on proximity (how near or far something may be) and containment (whether something is within or outside a given region).  In fact, there are hundreds of functions and operations to filter data, measure distance relationships, and combine and/or transform geometries.  Powerful visualization and self-service map-based analysis tools and APIs let developers, data scientists and analysts easily benefit from these capabilities.  For example, Neustar, a real-time provider of cloud-based information systems and data analytics, gives clients spatially-informed marketing insights for retail site analysis, market potential sizing, marketing campaign creation, and more to acquire and retain customers and improve site location strategies. 

For more specialized analysis and applications, often referred to as GIS or geographic information systems, the spatial features in Oracle Database also support large scale and complex geospatial applications.  For example, a global construction and engineering firm uses Oracle Database spatial features to manage survey data and ensure they are consistent and properly aligned.  These precise measurements, based on weather sensor data, are collected and validated for renewable solar energy projects.

Other spatial use cases include:

  • The US Census Bureau ensures that every land parcel and geographic feature such as roads, railroads, geographic areas, landmarks, waterways and other relevant geographic information is accurately captured, seamlessly merging geospatial data (with associated feature attributes) with non-spatial residential and business address datasets. 
  • Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi), the Irish national mapping agency, maintains national spatial data sets and creates mapping products for government agencies and the public.  This includes remotely sensed data, point clouds, aerial photos and satellite imagery, needing to automate complex workflow processes, and sharing data widely with the public. OSi addressed these challenges with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Oracle Spatial and Graph, and Oracle Exadata platform.  

Oracle Database now makes it easy for developers to add spatial capabilities to applications using modern application frameworks  with standards-based SQL and Java APIs, JSON and REST support, and integration with database tools, analytics, and applications. Watch this introductory video to appreciate just how easy it is to integrate spatial data and analytics into database applications.