BARCLAYS BANK AWARDS GETRONICS TWO YEAR €34 MILLION CONTRACT

Network and Desktop Services for over 100,000 IT assets across UK

Barclays Bank PLC today announces it has awarded Getronics UK a two-year, €34 million network and desktop services contract to provide maintenance and support for over 100,000 IT assets across its entire UK branch and head office network. The investment will ensure continual improvement in the service quality Barclays provides to its customers every day.

The renewed contract between Getronics UK and Barclays Bank PLC has been constructed to be highly flexible, enabling Getronics to respond to any changes during the first two years without disruption to Barclays’ operations.

“We needed a partner who was very accomplished in managing customer-facing systems and who fully understood the necessity to provide this service without any interruption to our day-to-day operations,” explains Frank Tudor, Supplier Relationship Manager, Barclays Bank PLC. “We have relied on Getronics for over 16 years, and trust their knowledge and understanding of the complexities of our IT systems and processes.”

Roger Whitehead, Managing Director, Getronics UK and Ireland comments: “This renewed engagement gives us great satisfaction as it expands and extends our relationship with Barclays and provides us with a great opportunity to continue to improve our service to the Bank.”

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About Getronics
With approximately 22,000 employees in over 30 countries and ongoing revenues of EUR 2.6 billion in 2003, Getronics is one of the world's leading providers of vendor independent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services. Getronics today combines the capabilities of the original Dutch company with those of Wang Global, acquired in 1999, and of the systems and services division of Olivetti. Getronics is ranked second worldwide in network and desktop outsourcing and fourth worldwide in network consulting and integration (Source: IDC 2002-2003). Getronics designs, integrates and manages ICT infrastructures and business solutions for many of the world's largest global and local companies and organisations, helping them maximise the value of their information technology investments. Getronics headquarters are in Amsterdam, with regional offices in Boston, Madrid and Singapore. Getronics’ shares are traded on Euronext Amsterdam ("GTN"). For further information about Getronics, visit www.getronics.com

About Barclays Bank PLC
Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider primarily offering banking, investment banking and investment management services to millions of customers world wide. Present in over 60 countries, Barclays is a leading provider of global services employing over 76, 200 people worldwide.

With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays Plc has five major divisions:

1. UK Banking, delivers banking products and services to over 14 million personal customers and 746, 000 businesses in the UK through over a variety of channels comprising: 2,064 branches, over 3,790 ATMs and the internet.
2. Barclaycard, is one of the leading credit card businesses in Europe with 11.9 million credit card customers across the UK and Europe. Barclaycard now incorporates all of the Group's UK secured and card lending products and expertise.
3. Barclays Capital, is the investment banking division, providing corporate, institutional and government clients with solutions to their financing and risk management needs.
4. Barclays Global Investors, is one of the world's largest asset managers and a leading provider of investment management products and services.
5. Private Clients and International Banking, combines the wealth management operation and global retail and commercial banking with over 375,000 affluent and high net worth clients as well as 2.2 million international clients.
For further information visit www.barclays.com

For further information...

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE): Media Backgrounder (Content Analysis Research Area)

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE) is structured into four complementary research areas: content analysis; document structure; image processing; and work practice technology.

The content analysis research area consists of four core linguistic technologies that are used to build different content management software applications. These core technologies are: finite state technology (FST); machine learning; parsing; and semantics.

FST in simple terms is the use of devices to increase time and space efficiencies when creating language-processing tools. It is a well-established technology used extensively in many areas of natural language processing. FST is particularly well-adapted for multilingual tools as relevant local language phenomena can be easily and intuitively expressed as finite-state devices.

The theoretical foundations of finite state technologies have been developed to a high level of sophistication in the past two decades. It is now regarded as an established fact, for example, that finite state models are suitable for modelling broad areas of syntax, particularly in spoken language. To expand the range of applications a new weighted version of the technology (WFSC) is currently being developed with results which promise to confirm Xerox’s position as world leader in the field.

Machine learning can be described as the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience. In other words, through examples a system will learn by itself to perform tasks automatically, in particular ones that have traditionally been performed manually by humans. At XRCE, machine learning is applied in textual information access to new options in processing document collections. The XRCE Categorizer is an example of such an application whereby, given a few manually classified files, the system quickly learns by itself how to classify documents hierarchically in existing categories. It can also learn entirely new categories on its own by detecting emerging topics of incoming documents and suggesting new categories to the user.

More information specifically on Categorizer is available in a Xerox press release, issued in February 2004 (refer to contact details below).

Parsing is the deconstruction of text into its syntactic parts (noun phrases, verbs etc) to then be able to analyse and identify useful functional relations between them in large collections of text (e.g. web pages, document collections). Xerox is already at the stage of enabling machines to parse text for its meaning using its incremental parser (XIP) technology. XIP is designed to build robust analysers that tackle deeper linguistic aspects than those traditionally handled by the now widespread shallow parsing technologies. Parsing is an essential building block for natural language applications.

Semantics is closely linked to parsing at XRCE but it goes beyond the syntactic structure by looking at meaning and concepts. Concepts and the relations between them are identified and abstractions made so that a ‘knowledge representation’ is built for specific applications e.g. identifying “bank” as a financial institution vs. identifying it as the edge of a river. Semantic representations also lend themselves to inference, particularly the use of background knowledge to refine or extend the interpretation of a text.

The content analysis research area not only generates technologies with practical business applications to solve business issues on its own, but also with the other three XRCE research areas. Individual technologies that have been guided by XRCE from R&D concept to development and/or commercialisation - either through a Xerox business group or via a third-party organisation - are:

• Terminology Suite
• Inxight LinguistX
• XIP
• LIRIX
• BioTIP
• Categorizer
• CopyFinder

Separate, individual fact sheets are available on all of these technologies and the business issues they solve (see below).

For more information, please refer to www.xrce.xerox.com or contact...

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE): Media Backgrounder (Document Structure Research Area)

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE) is structured into four complementary research areas: content analysis; document structure; image processing; and work practice technology.

The document structure research area of XRCE research is aligned to the increased adoption of extensible mark-up language (XML) by the IT and internet industries, and the sheer potential of XML as a language of communication between disparate systems.

While the primary benefit of XML is in exchanging data, greater benefits can be gained in content and document management. First of all, XML is naturally suited to represent the logical structure of documents (e.g. titles, sections, chapters, paragraphs) independently of their visual rendering. More importantly it can represent the semantics or meaning of documents (i.e. varied elements such as authors, dates, organisation or product names, financial data, copyright statements, legal warnings). This provides the potential for advanced, semantic-enabled search and data mining, but also for smart processes throughout the document lifecycle including content reuse and repurposing, quality assurance and security. It is also a natural bridge between databases and content for document validation and updating .

However, the challenges of how to create new documents automatically in XML, and convert legacy documents to XML, remain. XRCE is developing and combining new methods for Legacy Document Conversion where the research addresses the three faces of a structural document: layout, logical structure and semantics. The second research theme in this area is XML Schema management where researchers are addressing ways to link together different XML stores, and to repurpose and reformulate XML documents in order to enable “Smart processes”.

The document structure research area not only generates technologies with practical business applications to solve business issues on its own, but also with the other three XRCE research areas.
It combines expertise in machine learning, document mining and clustering, querying and visualization and hybrid methods for document acquisition. One technology that has been guided by XRCE from R&D concept to development and commercialisation is the SmartTagger for which a separate individual fact sheet is available (see below).

For more information, please refer to www.xrce.xerox.com or contact...

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE): Media Backgrounder

Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE) is based in Grenoble, France. It is the sole European part of the global Xerox Innovation Group (XIG) led by Hervé Gallaire, Chief Technology Officer, Xerox Corporation and created in 2001 to conduct exploratory research and invent next-generation technologies. XIG, and XRCE in turn, employs scientists who invent new technology, experts who obtain and protect the patents and intellectual property, and managers who deliver the technology to the three Xerox business groups: Xerox Global Services (XGS); Production Systems Group (PSG); and Xerox Office Group (XOG).

XRCE focuses on services that help people access and share documents and knowledge, regardless of device, format, platform or language, from the desktop or remotely. It coordinates research, engineering and the TeXnology Showroom, a customer showcase for Xerox research and a technology exchange forum. XRCE’s development team validates research technologies, ensuring that they meet scalability, reliability and other engineering criteria. XRCE technologists work directly with early adopters, feeding their input back to the researchers as they continue development.

Ultimately, XRCE technology will often be either transferred to Xerox Global Services to be used in Xerox’s consultancy offerings, to the Xerox Office Group for value added services, or licensed to a third party for commercialisation as an end-user application or system. XRCE is also in charge of developing connections within the wider European scientific community through collaborative projects and partnerships.

XRCE employs 100 personnel, led by Monica Beltrametti, vice president and centre director, XRCE. She is responsible for strengthening Xerox’s research programs in Europe and developing connections within the wider European scientific community while creating new business opportunities for Xerox in solutions and services. She also oversees the European technology showroom that each year hosts hundreds of customer visits.

Graham Button is director of the laboratory at XRCE, responsible for the coordination and implementation of research programmes from conception, to know-how and technology transfer. His studies of work practices have brought value to Xerox in a number of diverse fields, and he was a leader in the original XRCE “Office of the Future” project, some of whose concepts and technologies have been adopted by Xerox business groups.

Graham and Monica lead the XRCE team in its four R&D competencies: content analysis; document structures; image processing; and work practice. This also includes collaboration on a number of projects with the other Xerox research centres including Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC) in California and the Imaging and Services Technology Centre in Webster, New York.

XRCE was established to explore future spaces, the same reason PARC was created in the 1970s, i.e. to invent the office of the future. By the early 1990s, Europe was rapidly becoming a creative and expanding R&D environment. Xerox therefore decided to open a European research centre in 1993 to contribute actively to the vision of helping people with their document intensive business processes. Document content analysis being recognised as an important requirement, it had an even stronger meaning in Europe with its diversity of languages and business processes.

XRCE is structured into four complementary research areas:

1/4 Content analysis consists of four core linguistic technologies that are used to build different content management software applications: finite state technology (FST); machine learning; parsing; and semantics. Further detail on this department can be found in the XRCE: Media Backgrounder - Content Analysis Research Area document (see contact details below).

2/4 Document structure is aligned to the increased adoption of extensible mark-up language (XML) by the IT and internet industries, and the sheer potential of XML as a language of communication between disparate systems. Further detail on this department can be found in the XRCE: Media Backgrounder – Document Structure Research Area document (see below).

3/4 Image processing specialises in images captured by digital cameras, and continually builds on developments made in capturing images in hostile environments. ‘Hostile’ refers to an environment where poor lighting, shadows, skewed documents, smudges or any other factor that causes the integrity of a document to be compromised may reduce image quality. Further detail on this department can be found in the XRCE: Media Backgrounder – Image Processing Research Area document (see below).

4/4 Work practice concentrates on: improving understanding of the way in which work is organised; and improving understanding of how a particular type of customer is working i.e. a specific vertical industry sector. Both of these areas link closely to the Xerox Global Services business group. Further detail on this department can be found in the XRCE: Media Backgrounder – Work Practice Research Area document (see below).

For more information, please refer to www.xrce.xerox.com or contact...

‘All thumbs’ approach to messaging will mean more pressure on operators

Ghost-written article for Steve Buck, Vodafone & LogicaCMG.
Published somewhere in the UK, 2003.

Any network operator expecting personalised content or MMS-based functionality to be a hassle-free source of increased revenue may be in for a nasty shock. Whilst it’s true that manufacturers increasing the choice of camera or MMS-compatible handsets will ensure more users are introduced to the functionality, there are underlying problems with it. Everyone can see the potential of personalised content on mobile handsets, but who has mastered its delivery in a way that consumers actually like?

According to all the network operators I’ve spoken to this year, most consumers try MMS once or twice, have the service fail, and then give up – never to use it again. In general, consumers expect all new technology to be ‘plug and play’, especially when used to a diet of Instant Messenger, free web-based e-mail services, and the Vodafone “Live” and O2 “Active” offerings. They want it now, and don’t expect to have to spend any more than a few minutes learning how to use it. The reality of MMS alone is some way from this, and with the way things are developing it looks as if things will get worse before they get better.

There are likely to be over 100 different MMS-capable phones by the end of this year, many of which aren’t mainstream - Danger, or Alphacell for example.

It gets worse.

These 100+ handsets all use different formats for the three potential parts of MMS – sound, still image, and video. In moving image, you have the Windows vs. RealPlayer battle – RAM, MPG, MOV etc. For still images, handsets could be using JPG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, or another alternative. Then there is sound, just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated. All in all, you already have thousands of possible combinations of MMS ‘DNA’ if you will, and that’s only based on existing formats.

Unfortunately, even if MMS formats were to be standardised tomorrow, it still wouldn’t solve the problem. Different handsets interpret MMS in a different presentation order, regardless of the format those three parts arrive in. Ironically, the technology at the heart of the problem that is making consumers and operators grimace alike, is synchronised multimedia integration language (SMIL), which is pronounced, "smile." SMIL was introduced in 1998 as a document type of XML, designed to ensure the audio, video and graphics elements were executed sequentially or in parallel. Unfortunately it wasn’t designed for use in MMS, which is why you get radically different results when you send MMS from, say, a SonyEriccson T68i to three different handsets.

For example, a Panasonic GD87 would cramp the sound part of the MMS to the same length of time that the first video frame lasted, resulting in truncated sound. A Sharp GX-10, conversely, would stretch the first frame of video to the length of the sound, resulting in good sound but a stalled moving picture. If a Nokia 7210 received the MMS, it simply wouldn’t play back at all. The consumer is not going to get the service they expect.

The problems are likely to multiply because there is no industry-wide testing process in place. Handset vendors are ignoring the MMS Conformance Document v2.0.0 because they want their products to market faster, and because the document is already out of date. For example, it makes no allowance for ring tone standardisation, but there is nothing new that can be enforced to ensure this problem does not spiral out of control.

Consumers using MMS will expect the same they get with SMS – an instant message and instant response. SMS catches up with the recipient wherever they are and a one-letter reply, ‘y’ or ‘n’, can acknowledge that an instruction is understood. Consumers expect MMS to do exactly the same, so no-one will be satisfied if an MMS takes up to 30 minutes to be delivered, which some are at the moment.

In order to solve handset problems then the common factor to consider, from the consumer’s point of view, is speed. Everything must be as it is on the web – just a few clicks away. Obtaining content should be completely menu-driven, not short code driven. The thin line will have to be trod between making content available and spamming, but this can be achieved. It just needs to be intuitive – MMS needs something like the purpose hotbar.com fulfils for e-mail. Content could be offered via means of the mobile handset equivalent of the BBC News Ticker on a PC desktop – available without interfering. Get this right, and there might be real revenue in MMS or content provision after all.

More ‘Back to Front’ Than ‘Back to Roots’

Video game review of "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness" for Sony Playstation 2 (PS2).
Published on ciao.co.uk, October 2003.

Well, after months and months of anticipation and innumerable postponements by publisher, Eidos, it's here. Overall it's not bad, but I think that if this is all that can be done with Lara on the PS2 vs. PSone format, then it might be time to retire the poor girl.

For forty quid you expect to at least be able to control Lara. Unfortunately she responds with all the urgency of a three-toed sloth in a coma. Ironically this means you're less likely to fall off a high ledge, but more likely to end up shouting at the screen when involved in a close-quarters combat situation. "MOVE!", "RUN!", "DO SOMETHING!" and far, far ruder cries rang around my flat the first time Lara came up against a boss. You do get used to it, but compared to other third-person games e.g. Syphon Filter, and previous Tomb Raiders, Lara behaves as if she's heavily sedated. The other annoying fact is that you can't sprint until almost the end of the game, and it isn't terribly obvious when she learns this ability. Make sure you note that she can belly-crawl too, as you'll need it to get under tripwires and laser-activated bombs (press and hold 'triangle', then tap L2).

My other initial impression of disappointment was of the level domains. This is a far cry from the stunning Sphinx room, Great Wall of China, or legendary "Cistern" level in the first couple of Tomb Raiders. Early on in the game the levels are cramped and linear - even Lara ironically complains, "Another cold, dark city..." as you arrive in Prague. It's not until you reach the Tomb of the Ancients or maybe the Bio-Dome that you start to see the jaw-dropping visuals and rendering the PS2 is capable of, but this is an original differentiator for Tomb Raider that Eidos really hasn't exploited much.

Tomb Raiders also used to be known for their puzzles. Maybe I'm getting cleverer, or just used to the format, but I breezed through this game and was only really stuck once, trying to figure out that the subtle change in The Keeper's behaviour meant the painting was up for grabs. There were scant few occasions when I entered a level, saw a high balcony or ledge and thought, "Wonder how I get up there", and then ended up getting to it an hour later having been round the houses. Shame.

Playing as a bloke (Kurtis) for a while is new, as are some of the weapons, belly-crawling, and climbing of drainpipes etc. Unfortunately Kurtis walks like a chimpanzee, complete with knuckles scraping the floor, and frustration is added to amusement when you realise that he wields what looks like a ninja throwing star equipped with AI only in the cut-scenes, not in the game.

All in all, Tomb Raider is still a good game by today's standards. If you haven't played the originals then it's up there with Timesplitters 2, Tenchu 3, and Syphon Filter. Unfortunately, Eidos set a high standard with the first game that's difficult to live up to, so TR fans might be a bit disappointed.

Final verdict - buy it if you're new to the series, wait for it on Platinum or promo-price if you're a fan.