Dassault Aviation Joins the ObjectWeb Consortium

Business Wire, May 17, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2004

Dassault Aviation, world's leader in top-of-the-line business jets, joins ObjectWeb, a consortium of leading companies and research organizations from around the world who have joined forces to produce advanced components for distributed software infrastructures.

ObjectWeb follows an Open-Source development model which is a proven means of achieving high quality and high performance/cost ratios in software production. In addition, the access to the source code guarantees independence to all users, allows the customization of all components and permits their unimpeded audit by all the organizations who may require it. For these reasons, ObjectWeb offers to major corporations like Dassault-Aviation the opportunity to gain and keep maximum control over the software they use.

Jacques Pellas, Dassault Aviation Senior Vice-President of the Information System Division, explains: "An airplane has a typical lifecycle of several decades and for this reason, we need to build our information system on perennial software components. As an alternative to fast-evolving proprietary solutions, Open-Source software puts us in control of our level of dependency on the vendors' software and hardware products. By joining ObjectWeb, we will contribute to make Open-Source solutions, which often come from university origins, better comply to industrial requirements."

Dassault Aviation will seek synergies with other members and contribute to the definition of the strategy of the consortium. The involvement of Dassault Aviation in the shared development effort will enable the adaptation of ObjectWeb components to specific industrial requirements. On the technical side, the company may first target transfers of technology in fields like grid computing, asynchronous messaging and application servers.

ObjectWeb's Chairman of the Board Jean-Pierre Laisne declares: "We are honoured to welcome Dassault Aviation among the industrial leaders who are members of ObjectWeb. The participation of one of the most prominent players in the aeronautic market will be of strategic importance to ensure that our range of solutions meet the long-term requirements of the industry."

About Dassault Aviation:

With 7,500 military and civilian aircraft delivered in more than 70 countries in half a century, DASSAULT AVIATION has know-how and experience that make it one of the most advanced aircraft manufacturer companies in the world. For more information, please consult the DASSAULT web site: www.dassault-aviation.com.

About ObjectWeb:

ObjectWeb is an international consortium dedicated to the development of next generation Open-Source middleware. ObjectWeb's goal is to provide enterprise users with independent solutions based on open standards, which combine quality and robustness at the best performance/cost ratio. ObjectWeb targets alternative solutions to proprietary products for e-business, EAI, data connectivity, grid computing, and enterprise messaging. To find out more about ObjectWeb, visit: www.objectweb.org.