Interwise Selected by Department of Trade & Industry to Power Knowledge Sharing for High Tech Economic Development Across the UK; GBP 17 Million per Annum Programme Forms Communities of Geographically- Dispersed Experts to Spark Innovation

Business Wire, July 31, 2006

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. & LONDON -- Interwise, the global leader in unlimited voice, Web and video conferencing for the enterprise, today announced that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has developed a series of industry-specific knowledge sharing and collaboration communities known as Knowledge Transfer Networks, incorporating Interwise Connect as its integrated conferencing platform.

The Knowledge Transfer Networks are a key deliverable of the UK Government's groundbreaking Science and Innovation Investment Framework created to support businesses investing in new and emerging technologies. Each of the Knowledge Transfer Networks is designed to stimulate innovation in the UK's key technology sectors by promoting collaboration, best practice and knowledge sharing between businesses, government, research institutes, venture capital firms, universities, industry groups, and law firms. The Government has allocated GBP 17 million per annum to establish and manage some 19 networks, which embrace areas as diverse as low carbon and fuel cell technologies, sensors, cyber security, advanced materials, bioscience and healthcare technologies.

The Knowledge Transfer Networks are enabling the DTI to succeed in the elusive goal of fostering innovation by connecting collaborators who are physically located across the country and around the world. Network members can identify other members with specific expertise or interests, search for relevant materials, then use any combination of ad hoc voice conferences and web meetings, formal virtual classes and large web seminars, to work collaboratively.

"With globalization, innovation has become a networked phenomenon. Using Interwise' virtual meeting technology we have been able to apply the Silicon Valley model to emerging industries in the UK and create world-class virtual communities, despite the fact that the various constituencies such as companies, industry groups, professional support services and universities may be geographically dispersed," said Allan Mayo, Deputy Director, Department of Trade & Industry. "UK organizations are now running meetings with key national and international partners at the click of a button and we are learning how to maximize the benefits from this technology all the time."

The Interwise meetings can be recorded, indexed and stored to serve as "content" for members to review. This type of virtual collaboration allows the Network to extend its reach far beyond what was previously possible. For example, the DTI estimates that while a conference previously held in London might attract five percent of a given specialized community's members, web conferences can attract up to 25 percent because of their low cost and inclusive nature.

"Interwise is delighted to have such a key role in the delivery of the UK government's Science and Innovation Investment Framework. Individual companies across Europe face the same issues that the DTI faced: how to effectively focus expertise from geographically distant locations to manage and create new products. We think private industry can learn a great deal from DTI's success," said Tony Gasson, vice president EMEA, Interwise.

Each of the 19 Knowledge Transfer Networks consists of a Vignette portal front end, an Autonomy content management back end, and the Interwise Connect conferencing platform for live and on-demand collaboration. The portal interface integrates content from multiple Web-based sources, reports from the U.K. Foreign Offices network of commercial and scientific attaches, and links to key databases (such as U.S. and European patents). It also serves as a location for members to post documents they are developing, schedule and attend virtual meetings and conferences, and search for specific materials. While searching for text documents has become routine over the past few years, DTI has advanced the state-of-the-art by developing the ability to search the audio track of Interwise meetings and events so that the relevant part of a virtual conference or conversation can be found and accessed.

"Companies can benefit from the technologies and best practices demonstrated in larger, public collaborative initiatives by applying them to their own businesses, with specific goals to measure success," said Jeffrey Mann, Research Vice President, Gartner. "Forming virtual teams and communities of knowledge through the use of widely-accessible web/audio conferences with good content, recorded sessions and other searchable materials, is one example."

DTI's Knowledge Transfer Networks was profiled recently by Gartner in its research note entitled "U.K. Agency Knows How to Create Lively Virtual Communities." For further information about the DTI's KTN please see: http://ktn.globalwatchonline.com.

Interwise Connect integrates voice, Web and video conferencing within a single application for unlimited audio conferences, Web meetings, virtual classes, Webcasts, broadcasts and on-demand recordings. Deployed as a core business application to all employees, it improves the frequency, speed and quality of both internal and external business activities. It delivers strong cost and business ROI to companies with distributed and mobile workforces, customers and supply chains. Interwise Connect is a leading choice of Global 2000 companies, with more worldwide deployments of 5,000-plus seats than any other enterprise conferencing solution on the market.