Orion Technology Inc. and i411, Inc. Form Strategic Partnership

Richmond Hill, Ontario, CANADA and Herndon, Virginia, USA - December 16, 2005 ~ Orion Technology Inc., a leading provider of web-GIS software and integration services, and i411, Inc. a next-generation search technology company, announced today that the two companies have signed a business partnership agreement. Under terms of the partnership, Orion and i411 will focus on enabling end-users within government and commercial enterprises to index, access, query, and visualize large-size geospatial databases over interactive media.

Orion Technology contributes strong knowledge of the GIS domain, top-notch GIS software-development expertise, and extensive knowledge of the Canadian market to the partnership. Orion has built their strength on integrating diverse databases and applications, and infusing spatial technology (GIS) into business applications, enabling clients to build an integrated enterprise and conduct business effectively on the Web. Orion has developed an entire suite of off-the-shelf web-GIS solutions led by OnPoint™, a fully customizable web-GIS product (using ESRI’s ArcIMS) that lets clients post their geographic data on the web fast.

i411’s Discovery Engine™ is designed to index, search, discover, and retrieve information that is often scattered across disparate, dispersed, and (un)structured databases. Using patent-pending technology that is superior to the conventional search engines, i411 returns search results organized neatly by facets and categories, rather than by interminable lists of individual results ranked by keyword relevance. i411’s powerful and intuitive multifaceted search-and-discovery technology allows users to conduct free-text searches similar to popular search engines - and to incrementally and interactively refine their queries using multiple criteria. In this way, users can find AND serendipitously uncover the information they seek in real time (‹200 milliseconds). The objective is to simultaneously provide users a fast, human-friendly interface and also to assist content owners to maximize the “social, economic, and intelligence” value of their databases through aggregation, access, and visibility via the search-and-browse process.

“The synergies between i411’s Discovery Engine and Orion’s OnPoint™ are intriguing.” remarked Shafik Jiwani, Chief Operating Officer of Orion. “This partnership will provide the opportunity to explore new paradigms in the index, search and discovery of GIS data, with the ultimate vision of providing clients with an enhanced toolset.” The partnership has started off strongly, as Orion and i411are already working together on a geo-search tool for a Province wide organization in Canada,

Iqbal Talib, Co-Founder, President & CEO of i411, Inc. notes that “Our partnership with Orion is both timely and practical. Geospatial databases are complex, and giving end-users fast, easy access and search is a major challenge. In the U.S. government arena, for instance, we see an urgent, acute need for multifaceted search, discovery, and retrieval of geospatial information - especially among agencies involved in areas such as census, multimodal transportation systems, geological survey, and intelligence analysis. It is here that the Orion-i411 combination can solve some real problems.”



About Orion Technology Inc.

Orion Technology, based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, is a technology consulting and services integration company, specializing in web-GIS. Orion’s focus is on helping organizations incorporate spatial technology into all facets of their businesses. Orion’s wealth of knowledge in the GIS domain and top-notch GIS software-development expertise has been showcased with its award-winning flagship product OnPoint™. OnPoint™ is enjoying growing support in the GIS community, both domestically and internationally, as a standard for providing geographic data through intuitive Internet and Intranet web-based user interfaces. OnPoint™ provides out-of-the-box implementation capabilities, powerful administration tools for customizing and managing the web portal, and unparalleled data-integration features. Orion’s easy-to-use Web-GIS products and custom application development services have helped Orion achieve phenomenal success in securing and delivering projects for reputable clients worldwide - from small organizations to entire countries.

To find out more about Orion and its products, visit www.orion-gis.com.

About i411, Inc.

i411 is a leading provider of multifaceted search, discovery, and retrieval technology - the i411 Discovery Engine™ (six patents pending). The company’s recent applications have been for large databases of U.S. government agencies, e.g., NIH, STAT-USA of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the XML Community of Practice of the U.S. CIO Council. In the commercial arena, i411 is a leader in the field of Internet Yellow Pages. Here, i411’s search platform combines highly scalable search and retrieval technology with a deep understanding of the nuances of local search, including specific linguistics and semantic capabilities, and visualization tailored to provide consumers with the ultimate online search experience. i411 provides technology and related services for some of the largest yellow page publishers in the world looking to bridge the gap between print directories and the online search marketplace. Customers include Dun & Bradstreet, Telecom Directory Services (South Africa), and DexOnline, the site consistently rated as the number one IYP/local search site by independent analysts, The Kelsey Group. i411 is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with offices in Holland and Brazil.

Learn more about i411 at www.i411.com.

Contact Information

Marla Maniacco

Communication Coordinator

Orion Technology Inc.

Contact via E-mail