Japanese Release
Dialog Release		 Fujitsu Logo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1999-0128

Fujitsu and Dialog Corporation Announce Internet Technology and Distribution Tie-up

-Global expansion of Internet-based commercial online information services-

Tokyo, June 15, 1999 -- On June 9, 1999 Fujitsu Limited (Fujitsu) and the Dialog Corporation plc (Dialog), a leading provider of Internet-based information, technology and e-commerce solutions to the corporate market, signed an agreement in London launching a new cooperation in the commercial online information services business.

Under the terms of the agreement, Fujitsu has been granted a license for "InfoSort," Dialog's proprietary indexing and categorization technology for the Internet. Fujitsu will also develop and have exclusive worldwide distributorship of a Japanese version of InfoSort.

In addition, Fujitsu has been granted a non-exclusive worldwide (including Japan) distributorship for Dialog's Internet-based commercial online information services.

Fujitsu views this business alliance with Dialog as a key part of its global software and service business strategy. By integrating Dialog's advanced technologies and rich information content with the offerings of the Fujitsu Group's global business network, including ICL in the UK and Amdahl in the USA, Fujitsu will enhance its IT business value chain.

Dialog serves more than 20,000 corporate clients in 120 countries worldwide, including over 70% of the Fortune 500. Of Dialog's 1998 sales revenue of £171 million (Y34.2 billion), 35% (£60 million (Y12 billion)) was generated from its Internet database services, the world largest.

Today the Internet has a huge amount of information, and it is almost impossible to retrieve precisely the desired information one seeks, without also pulling up irrelevant information in the search results. InfoSort is the most advanced indexing and categorization technology available, enabling searches of huge amounts of data quickly and precisely. Fujitsu and its affiliate, G-Search Limited (G-Search), the leading commercial database provider in Japan, will jointly develop a Japanese version of InfoSort, which is to be applied to G-Search's Internet-based commercial database services, Fujitsu's InfoNavigator Web searching service and Intranet services. In addition, Fujitsu and Dialog will jointly develop InfoSort-based information services in the future, as well as new technologies and services in e-commerce and other fields.

Dialog, the world's biggest commercial information service provider, offers a wide range of information covering business, law, medical, science/ technology and other areas. Recently Dialog has started providing such content through an Intranet solution called LiveIntranet. With the non- exclusive worldwide (including Japan) distributorship, Fujitsu will offer Dialog's variety of information services through Fujitsu's global business network. Furthermore, by incorporating Dialog's rich content into IT solutions such as its @VISION series, Fujitsu will create a new value chain. The companies expect first year revenues of 5 billion yen to result from their cooperation.

G-Search will act as a distributor for Dialog's full range of database services, in addition to Dialog's Profound business database, which it already provides.

Agreement Summary

  1. Fujitsu Group has been granted a technology license for Dialog's proprietary InfoSort(English) indexing and categorization technology, the right to exclusively develop a Japanese version of InfoSort and the exclusive worldwide distributorship of the Japanese version.
  2. Fujitsu Group has obtained worldwide non-exclusive distributorship of all Dialog's highly regarded information services, including DIALOG, DataStar and Profound, which enjoy strong sales all over the world.
  3. Fujitsu Group will distribute LiveIntranet (English version).
  4. Fujitsu Group will develop various Japanese InfoSort-equipped services for online information and Intranet solutions.
Description of InfoSort

InfoSort makes it possible to quickly and accurately search a large amount of data through indexing know-how developed by its business experience since 1985. The data indexing covers as many as 800 areas (mainly business oriented), including politics/economics, computers and leisure enabling automatic and relevant indexing of many different types of information. This enables data searching as much as fifty times more accurate than conventional systems. Furthermore, the indexed data can be searched on the same interface, offering easy operation so that even first-time users can quickly get information they need.

The BBC is using InfoSort to automatically index and categorize newspaper clippings, a process which used to be done manually. Now BBC employees can search the clippings from PCs on their desktop, and it is expected that cost reduction and productivity improvements equivalent to £ million/ year (approx. Y200 million) will be made.

Dialog's Database Services

DIALOG/DataStar:
DIALOG provides over 450 business databases (in English) of various fields; news, science technology, business, law, pharmaceutical via the Internet. It offers advanced search interface for information professionals, together with a more simple search screen using web browsers. DataStar provides approximately 350 business databases (in English and some in German and French) including about 150 databases DIALOG doesn't cover. The DataStar service is offered at the one of Dialog's data centers in Bern, Switzerland and specializes in company information, news and pharmaceutical/medical related databases in Europe.

Profound:
Profound is the world biggest business information database on the Internet, containing more than 50,000 market research reports, as well as over 250,000 stock broker reports, some 5,000 articles from newspapers/magazines/journals in 17 different languages from over 190 countries and more than 4.5 million company financial information, which are all useful for every day business. Profound offers cross-searching, news clipping and other easy-to-use practical functions. Due to the InfoSort technology, users can search the information they require from those extensive data sources.

LiveIntranet:
LiveIntranet is a knowledge management solution for Intranets, selecting and providing only usable information for customers. Using InfoSort, LiveIntranet indexes and categorizes unstructured and accumulated internal information. The indexed/categorized data can be shared company wide. This service realizes seamless searching of different categories, commercial information and internal information alike. Additionally, substantial functions, for example, push-type clipping services are also available, delivering news and information on a real time basis.

Corporate Profiles

Dialog:

  1. Name: The Dialog Corporation plc
  2. President: Daniel Wagner
  3. Capital: US$250,000,000
  4. Year Established: 1985 (M.A.I.D plc)
    1997 (Dialog by the merger of M.A.I.D plc and Knight-Ridder Information Inc.)
  5. Head Office: The Communication Building, 48 Leicester Square London WC2H 7DB, UK
  6. Employees: 1,200
  7. Businesses: Provide commercial on-line databases, Develop and provide Internet/intranet solutions, Develop and provide eCccommerce services, Develop and distribute search engines and support systems
  8. URL: http://www.dialog.com/
G-Search:
  1. Name: G-Search Limited
  2. President: Makoto Ohta
  3. Capital: Y480,000,000.
  4. Date Established: January 17, 1991
  5. Head Office: 9-15, Kaigan 3-chome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
  6. Employees: 111
  7. Share Holders: Fujitsu Limited (45%)
    Heiwa Information Center Co., Ltd. (35%)
    Fujitsu FIP Corporation (20%)
  8. Businesses: Plan and distribute database services.
    Plan and develop software for databases.
    Provide outsourcing services for database systems.
    Provide publications, education and consultation on databases.
    Plan and provide Internet services.
    Distribute software via Internet.
    Provide and support InfoWeb, Fujitsu's Internet service.
    Provide outsourcing services for customer support center.
  9. URL: http://www.g-search.or.jp/

All company and product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are used for identification purpose only.

Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu Limited (TSE 6702) is a leading provider of comprehensive information technology and network solutions for the global marketplace. Comprising over 500 group companies and affiliates worldwide -- including ICL, Amdahl and DMR Consulting Group -- the Fujitsu Group had consolidated revenues of 5.24 trillion yen ($43.3 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999. With world-class hardware and software technology in computers, telecommunications and electronic devices, and a corps of 55,000 systems and services experts around the world, Fujitsu is uniquely positioned to harness the power of the network to help its customers succeed in today's rapidly changing business environment.
Homepage: http://www.fujitsu.com/
Press Contacts:
 Fujitsu Limited, Public Relations
 Bob Pomeroy, Makoto Saito, Masaki Hongo
 Tel: +81-3-3215-5236 (Tokyo)
 Fax: +81-3-3216-9365

Customer Contact:

 Fujitsu Limited
 Network & Contents Business Group
 Tel: +81-3-3730-3141
 Fax: +81-3-3730-8386
 e-mail: query@contents.fujitsu.co.jp



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