Tuesday November 16, 12:10 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Net Shepherd Signs Technology Demonstration Contract With
Netherlands Government
Technology will sort Internet sites into useful categories in education initiative
CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 16, 1999-- Net Shepherd Inc. (ASE: WEB - news) today announced that it
has signed a contract for a demonstration project with Kennisnet, The Netherlands national Government initiative to connect
schools to the Internet and provide teachers, students and parents with relevant and appropriate content.
Worth $80,000, the work will demonstrate the way in which Net Shepherd's Internet Community Management System can be
used with a community of Dutch teachers to categorize the educational usefulness of different Internet sites for varying grade
and ability levels. The demonstration project will structure mathematics information on the Internet for grade 7 through to
university level.
``This is an important development for Net Shepherd in Europe and elsewhere', said President & CEO, Don Sandford. ``It
not only demonstrates that our technology can earn revenue out in the marketplace, but it also shows that it can be applied to a
variety of tasks. The early uses of our technology have centred on the filtering of unsuitable content, but this shows a much
wider application. We will be sorting the wealth of information on the Net into useful categories for customers' use. People
are learning that connectivity is not enough. There also needs to be access to relevant content. We expect that successful
completion of this demonstration project will lead not only to further work for Kennisnet, but also to much wider use of this
application in education and other sectors in different parts of the world.'
``This is a very important step forward for us', said Herman Hollander, who represents Net Shepherd in Europe and works
out of the ClickChoice offices in the Vanenburg Group's world headquarters in Putten, The Netherlands. ``After taking this
first challenge on mathematics, we look forward to categorizing the Internet for all school subjects. This will greatly support
the new style of education in a new world!'
``This is potentially a very valuable tool for educators', said Kennisnet's Ron Ides. ``There is a huge amount of information
on the Internet, but you can see why it has been nick-named the 'World Wide Waste of Time``. People can drown in a sea of
sites. Students need focused access to appropriate information at different stages in their education. But there's so much
information, that any one organization trying to categorize millions of sites faces a very uphill task. We believe that Net
Shepherd's ability to combine the power of machines with the judgement of humans will turn this problem into a very good
opportunity for our children to use the Internet as an effective resource.'
Background Notes:
Net Shepherd's technology helps companies that want to transform the way they do business and create new opportunities
using the Internet. It is a leading provider of Internet-based community solutions to provide the gathering of information and
the management of work at the speed of the Internet.
Net Shepherd develops, partners with and invests in companies that use this technology in a variety of different applications.
Net Shepherd Inc. is traded on The Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol WEB.
Information and statements in this document, other than historical information, should be considered forward-looking and
reflect management's current views of future events and financial performance that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the following: general
economic conditions and developments within the Internet and Intranet industries; product development and technology
changes; competition and pricing pressures; length of the sales cycle; variability of sale order flow and the management of
growth.
``The Alberta Stock Exchange has Neither Approved Nor Disapproved the Information Contained Herein.'
Contact:
Net Shepherd Inc.
Peter Hunt
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs
Phone: +1 (403) 218 8917
Fax: +1 (403) 232 6711
E-mail: peter.hunt@netshepherd.com
Website: www.netshepherd.com
-OR-
Net Shepherd Europe:
Herman Hollander
Phone +31 341 375682. Fax. + 31 341 375518
E-mail: hhollander@vanenburg.co |
