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Turning
Cities into Smart Economies (4.10.2000)
Next
Generation Cities and Teamware Group announce partnership
Next Generation
Cities (NGCities), builders of Internet-based digital community
networks, and Teamware Group, a Fujitsu Company, have announced
a global partnership. Through the acquisition of global rights to
sell Teamware Pl@za, Next Generation Cities begins to offer Digital
Community Network (DCN) solutions worldwide in order to create smart
economies for cities.
"We enable major
international cities to accelerate their transformation into smart
economies supporting cultural entrepreneurship through the use of
Teamware Pl@za. We offer speed and simplicity for cities seeking
e-government solutions offering local controls and centralized coordination
", says Jim Cushing, Chairman, Next Generation Cities.
"Helping people
and businesses harness the power of information and communications
technologies will create the skills needed to prosper in the knowledge-based
economy, improve the quality of life, and strengthen the next generation
culture that is transforming our smart economies. By combining our
European experiences with our Next Generation Cities collaboration
in the US we are able to contribute to the European Commission's
eEurope-initiative, which aims to bring the benefits of Information
Society within the reach of all Europeans", says Markku Rouhiainen,
Vice President, Community Solutions Business, Teamware Group.
The partnership
announced today is an outcome of successful demonstration projects
between the two companies in the US. NGCities and Teamware Group
have jointly built a web application powered by Teamware Pl@za.
In the "1999 Cities of the Future Conference" held in December in
Sacramento, conference participants were provided with a virtual
meeting point to facilitate their interaction (www.infoforum.org).
Using the same technology, the city portal "415Forum" (www.415forum.com)
has been developed for San Francisco's South of Market area in order
to increase interaction between public administration and citizens,
and to stimulate small business electronic commerce.
In Finland,
Teamware is one of the contractors building the 'Helsinki Virtual
Village'. The solution is in the first stage created for the small
and medium-sized businesses and universities operating in the Arabianranta
area, but will later expand to service also those moving into the
new residential area.
About Next Generation Cities
Next Generation Cities is a San Francisco-based initiative that
designs, builds and operates Internet-based Digital Community Networks
(DCNs) for cities and communities of the 21st century. NGC sells
DCN software solutions and provides consulting and program management
services. Developed in partnership with private and public sectors,
DCNs are aggregated community networks that become a single source
of information regarding businesses, residents, schools and government
agencies. DCN features include a PublicTrusted DataBank for secure
distribution of public data records, a Geographical Information
System (GIS) to manage street and parcel information, and an Intelligent
Business Registry (IBR) that allows local businesses to buy and
sell their products and services. DCNs will stimulate economic development
for local communities, reduce businesses transaction cost, and increase
efficiencies for local governments. For more information, please
visit http://www.ngcities.com.
About Teamware
Teamware Group develops, markets and supplies software products
and services designed to facilitate human networking and enable
communities to prosper. Teamware is a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited,
a $50 billion provider of Internet-based information technology
solutions for the global marketplace. Teamware operates in Europe
and USA as well as through the Fujitsu network worldwide. Teamware
Pl@za, which runs on Java, creates a new and functional web platform
for communities. With the help of Pl@za, users can generate their
own discussion groups and shared document folders as well as make
new contacts and thereby increase community interaction. For more
information on Teamware, please visit our home page at www.teamware.com.
Press contacts:
Ingrid Korpela, Communications Manager, Tel. +358 9 5128 2539 or
ingrid.korpela@teamware.com.
Additional
Information:
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