OREANDA-NEWS. GE’s Digital Energy business (NYSE: GE) today announced it has improved the customer experience of its advanced SmallworldTM geospatial solutions by adopting industry-leading JavaTM technology from Oracle. By utilizing Java, GE is able to use the world’s largest software ecosystem, enabling cost of ownership reductions for its Smallworld customers though Java’s extensive available resources, existing code libraries and simplified integration to other key enterprise systems.

The adoption of Java technology for Smallworld enhances the capabilities of GE’s geospatial solutions, enabling the software to exploit the power of modern hardware and software platforms and natively interface with other Java-based software. This allows utility customers to better manage their network asset models and facilitates access to geospatial asset data and applications across their grid—supporting more effective planning, design, construction and maintenance of networks.

“As an industry-leading technology for enterprise architecture and cloud-computing applications, Java’s expansive capabilities enable us to reduce costs for our customers while also improving the user experience of our offering,” said Bryan Friehauf, product line leader—software solutions, GE’s Digital Energy business. “Adopting Java as the basis for our Smallworld technology is a key component of the drive towards GE’s vision of a modern, efficient and cost-effective utility where work can be done anytime, anywhere and on any device.”

GE’s approach to this release is highly evolutionary for its customers. By working with Oracle and using new capabilities introduced in Java 7, existing Magik language-based applications execute on the Java virtual machine, the self-optimizing “engine” for Java. The result is that customers’ existing applications work without rewriting in the Java language—preserving customer investment and ensuring ease of upgrade to Smallworld 5 while also opening the technology to use directly with enterprise Java-based applications.

“Our Smallworld geospatial solutions have been tailored to support productivity improvements in electric, gas, water and telecommunications applications. We utilized our deep industry domain knowledge to create a user-friendly software solution capable of supporting the grid management demands of the world’s largest utilities,” Friehauf continued.

Geospatial information systems, mobile workforce applications and communications management play a key role in constructing, operating, maintaining and managing critical network assets. GE’s comprehensive suite of integrated grid management tools delivers the flexibility required to meet its customers’ dynamic network requirements. These solutions simplify the planning and recording of critical network infrastructures, further reducing operational and ownership costs.

GE’s Digital Energy business is a global leader in transmission and distribution solutions that manage and move power from the power plant to the consumer. Its products and services increase the reliability of electrical power networks and critical equipment for utility, industrial and large commercial customers. From protecting and optimizing assets such as generators, transmission lines and motors, to delivering analytic tools to help manage the power grid, GE’s Digital Energy business delivers industry-leading technologies to solve the unique challenges of each customer. 

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