Expert System, a provider of semantic software that searches, discovers, classifies and interprets unstructured text information, and geographic information system software vendor Esri Italia have announced a partnership.

The companies explain the integration of the two technologies will render geographic search and analysis activities more efficient. As a result, search results discovered through semantic analysis can be visualized in geographic maps derived from the geo-analysis, providing analysts with a deeper level of detail.

Autonomy has launched a full information management platform for the legal industry. Leveraging its private cloud, the new offering combines WorkSite, Records Manager, Universal Search, Process Automation and ConflictsManager to help legal professionals manage content throughout the matter life cycle from inception through to disposition.

Autonomy's cloud-based Information Management platform includes the following modules:

• WorkSite — enables law firms and corporate clients to link directly to relevant matter for a particular investigation or case, resulting in quicker access to corporate data and lower e-discovery costs.
• Records Manager — supports the unique requirements of the law firm by providing dual hierarchy file plans for the management of both client and firm records, mobility support, ethical wall security, federation across all data sources, including robust physical records management, as well as manage-in-place and case management capabilities.
• Universal Search — delivers an intuitive search solution tailored to meet the needs of lawyers that leverages the powerful conceptual search capability of IDOL to produce results that are contextually relevant.
• Process Automation — addresses the need in complex e-forms and information processing implementations to manage forms and documents; users are guided through the process using an intuitive wizard or table of contents-type director to ensure completion at each step.
• ConflictsManager — enables law firms to quickly and efficiently identify any potential conflict of interest prior to accepting a new business engagement.

Alfresco has released Version 3.4 of its enterprise content management system. The latest iteration has been designed for developers and companies to build applications where enterprise content is "social-ready" — that is, shared, collaborated on and syndicated across the Web — and captured for compliance, retention and control, reports Alfresco.

The company emphasizes the following key new product capabilities for the Alfresco Enterprise 3.4:

User interface enhancements to make document management more social. Alfresco’s refreshed Share interface for collaboration and document management now includes status updates (similar to Facebook and Twitter), content activity streams and enhanced search capabilities to make content easier to find.

Folder-based actions for simple workflow, along with advanced workflow (using jBPM). Business users can now set up simple document workflow, such as approvals or content transformations, inside the Share interface. For robust workflow, Alfresco Share now exposes workflows created with standards-based enterprise business process management tools.

Distributed content replication. Native support for content replication allows organizations to run federated content repositories. Key documents can now be replicated to support large geographically dispersed companies, reducing access time, removing single points of failure and removing the dependency on a single system.

Collaborative Web authoring. Alfresco Web Quick Start is a set of best-practice templates for building content-rich websites on top of Alfresco Share. Quick Start combines the power of Alfresco Share for Web team collaboration, with powerful content process control and publishing services like office-to-Web publishing.

Integration with enterprise portals and social software. Alfresco now includes a DocLib portlet to enhance its JSR-168 support, which exposes a document library in standards-based portals like Liferay or Red Hat’s JBoss Portal. And using CMIS, Alfresco continues to integrate with Drupal, Lotus Quickr and an expanding set of social business systems.

Coveo has released Version 6.5 of its enterprise search platform, which includes real-time, personalized and interactive business analytics and dashboards. New, configurable dashboard widgets provide users with immediate access to 360-degree views of the information they need, across any number of repositories, reports the company.

The Coveo Platform includes two layers, the Unified Indexing Layer and the Access Interface Layer, which — when combined — let users access information from all enterprise systems through a variety of interfaces — from a Desktop Floating Search Bar to personalized and interactive dashboards.

In addition to dashboards and widgets, as well as expanded support for global organization, key features in Coveo 6.5 include:

SmartFacets — Coveo’s latest development in navigating and computing search results dynamically computes sums, averages, minimum and maximum values, as well as numerical ranges, for facet values. Coveo also delivers graphical views based on the computed results, so users can generate a view of all sales opportunities in a region, for example.

Expanded support for global organizations — Coveo now supports 45 languages, including Asian, European and Arabic.

Coveo reports use cases include:

Customer service and support — Support agents can find information and resolve customer issues faster and more accurately, particularly complex issues, to which support organizations tend to devote the most expensive resources. Rather than piecing information together from multiple systems and interfaces (the average customer service agent has eight to 10 applications open at any time), Coveo provides a single dashboard view that dynamically consolidates and correlates information about cases, customers and more.

Sales and marketing — Coveo Platform 6.5 gives executives a complete, 360-degree view of customer information. At any point in time, salespeople and executives can access consolidated, real-time information about the complete relationship of a customer to the organization, its products, people, processes and any current or former projects. Coveo dashboards are easily configured to display personalized views of: account history and satisfaction status; cross-selling and up-selling opportunities; revenue details by region, sales rep, or product line; e-mail conversations and company experts, proposals, contracts and customer service tickets, all in a single, composite view.

Google simultaneously announced and released Google One Pass, a new service from the search giant that lets publishers dictate pricing and subscription models for accessing digital content. The service is designed to allow users to access their content on tablets, smartphones, and desktops, using a single sign-on. The service can also accommodate existing subscribers. The service includes a variety of models that publishers can choose from, such as subscriptions, "freemium" content, metered access (in which the first few articles are free, followed by a charge beyond a pre-determined point), and individual article sales.

The payments for the service are handled through Google Checkout, which the company already uses to process transactions through its Android Marketplace. Several German publishers signed on to the service at the event, including Axel Springer AG and Stern.de. Other participants include Media General and Popular Science. The service is available in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

For more coverage and analysis of Google One Pass and its impact on the content market, check out EContent's blog post.

(www.google.com/landing/onepass)

CQ Roll Call has a new application to help users track legislation and other information regarding the U.S. Congress. Subscribers can now access a wealth of data on CQ Roll Call’s Web site, including congressional videos, hearing transcripts and more than 30 other sources of unstructured information.

The information application is the fourth built on MarkLogic technology for CQ Roll Call. It lets Web site visitors access the entire library of information via one search, rather than searching silos, to get the right information.

Blend Qatipi, VP engineering with CQ Roll Call, says, "Part of what keeps us in business is to be ahead of our competition in terms of what we implement and provide for our users. MarkLogic has helped us narrow searches easily, and the response our users get back is faster and cleaner."

According to MarkLogic, previous information applications that CQ Roll Call has built on its technology include:

• CQ Legislative Impact—By integrating XML content from more than 30 sources, including the Public Laws database and the entire U.S. Code, CQ Legislative Impact lets subscribers see the specific impact of pending or passed legislation on existing laws.
• CQ Floor Video—This implementation assembles closed caption text with video of the U.S. House and Senate while in session.
• Politics in America Book—Created every two years when a new Congress is sworn in, this book includes information about new congressional leaders and is available both online and in print.

Ektron and Baynote have announced a technology partnership that deepens the integration between their two platforms and, the companies report, will provide their joint customers with the ability to deliver uniquely personalized Web site experiences for visitors.

They add that a combined solution will significantly enhance content targeting—both associative and adaptive personalization. Ektron reports its associative content targeting lets marketers establish a set of business rules to determine what content should be displayed based upon information gleaned from the visitor’s search criteria, geographic location, source traffic and other factors. For example, different content would be displayed dependent on whether the visitor arrived through a search link, or came from another site. Baynote’s adaptive personalization is said to extend targeting even further where the site itself adapts content based on visitor behavior.

VBrick Systems, which develops enterprise IT video solutions, is acquiring Fliqz Media Corporation. Fliqz develops video platforms that let websites provide video to users and improve website search engine ranking. The solutions will be integrated with VBrick's VBoss streaming service, which helps organizations meet live and on-demand video needs.

In addition to video and SEO tools, Fliqz provides users with a variety of reporting metrics, including user engagement, completion rate, viral distribution, and video popularity. The Fliqz acquisition also brings a collection of new customers to VBrick, including Major League Baseball, Rackspace, and WebMD. According to the companies, Fliqz is already in use by more than 35,000 websites worldwide.

(www.vbrick.com, www.fliqz.com)

The Bank of China in London is reducing its paper consumption by 95 percent as part of a strategy to improve business efficiency. The bank manually printed and distributed about 3,000 interbank messages daily to internal departments, which was costly in terms of manpower and required 50 pounds of paper per day.

The Bank of China turned to IBM to help its London branch and subsidiary automate the processing of those interbank messages. Now with the new system, employees can monitor and analyze messages through an online search capability. They check transactions as they are sent and received by the bank. The new solution consists of IBM Informix software and Centric iSolutions software running on IBM System x servers.

The electronic routing and monitoring capability—along with a powerful search engine—allows the bank to ensure transactions are processed in the proper settlement time period. Banks can face high overnight interest rate charges if messages are not responded to the same day.

Stephen Hinds, COO of Bank of China’s London branch and subsidiary, says, "The improved access to information has been key in helping us meet compliance regulations and reduce costs. The availability of information across all our departments has led to further benefits such as reducing our paper consumption by 95 percent and allowed us to make more timely and accurate decisions. IBM and Centric iSolutions have been instrumental in helping us stay ahead to more efficiently manage an increasing number of interbank transactions and monitor business process activity across multiple departments."