MITK presently at 1.44 on Nasdaq...I would buy it:
this today: (COMTEX) B: Mitek Systems Announces Collaboration With Science Applic B: Mitek Systems Announces Collaboration With Science Applications International to Develop New Technology SAN DIEGO (April 14) BUSINESS WIRE -April 14, 1999--Mitek Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:MITK) and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) Wednesday announced that they will jointly explore the potential for applying new technology in the processing of loosely structured documents. John Thornton, Mitek's chairman and president, said: "To date, tools for automating data extraction from loosely structured documents have been quite limited. In general, existing tools have required extensive hand crafting of rules for each application, which requires specialized training, is very labor-intensive and is prone to error. "Moreover, there is little or no generalization capability, requiring extensive maintenance operations to keep pace with changes in incoming documents. Our collaboration with Science Applications will explore new methods of reading loosely structured documents by combining Mitek's superior intelligent character recognition engines with SAIC's ability to locate and extract data from a wide variety of loosely structured documents." Automated Document Processing Historically, automated document processing systems have focused on two extremes of document type: completely structured and completely unstructured. Forms, such as tax forms, census forms, etc., are the primary examples of completely structured documents. Automated extraction of data from such documents relies on the fact that each data element of interest appears on each form in a known horizontal and vertical (X-Y) position. Data elements are located based on these known positions, and are read using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. The data elements typically are then entered into a structured database for further processing. At the other extreme of document processing are unstructured documents. Examples include letters, reports, newspapers and magazines. In general, such documents do not present information in repeatable X-Y positions. In automated processing, such documents typically are treated as consisting of blocks of text. OCR technology is used to convert the text from such documents for entry into full-text databases. Many business documents, however, fall in between these two extremes of document type. Examples include invoices, bills of lading and insurance notices. Such documents typically have some type of header region that includes identifying information such as a company name or invoice number. Much of the data of interest, however, is contained in subsequent sections that may have only a generalized layout. As an example, an invoice may list a variable number of items. Individual entries may vary in vertical extent based on the length of each product description. Items such as ship-to locations, totals and payment dates may appear in highly variable positions. Documents with such characteristics have been referred to as flex-forms, pseudo-forms and partially structured, or loosely structured documents. Science Applications International Over the past few years, SAIC has carried out an intensive research and development effort to apply modern machine learning techniques in document processing. This effort has resulted in a dramatic advance in the ability to locate and extract data from a wide variety of loosely structured documents. This technology can deal effectively with data that can exhibit large horizontal and vertical displacements, including movement across page boundaries. Most importantly, this approach does not require any explicit programming or rule crafting on the part of the user. Systems based on this technology learn by example. A user simply displays a few images of each document type and draws bounding boxes around items of interest. The system automatically learns how to locate the data. The algorithms employed possess very powerful generalization capabilities, allowing many changes in document layout to be accommodated automatically. Association for Information and Image Management In a collaborative effort, Mitek and SAIC have incorporated this new technology into Mitek's industry-leading forms processing software. This technology is being showcased at the annual conference and exhibition of the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM). Each year's AIIM Conference is the definitive event for the automated document processing industry. This year's conference is being held in Atlanta from the 11th through the 15th of April. Thornton added: "Mitek and SAIC believe that the new capabilities provided by this unique technology represent a fundamental advance in automated document processing. This advance is anticipated to enable a wide range of new applications. We are using the AIIM conference as a venue for exploring the market potential of this new advance." SAIC is the largest employee-owned high-technology company in the United States. With more than 35,000 employees and estimated annual revenues in excess of $4 billion, SAIC is ranked No. 347 in the Fortune 500. Mitek Systems is a worldwide leader in intelligent character recognition technology, products and services for the document imaging markets, with headquarters at 10070 Carroll Canyon Rd., San Diego, Calif. 92131. The company's document imaging software engine and intelligent character recognition products and services are used in mission-critical and high-volume data entry, data capture and forms processing applications installed in many of the world's leading financial institutions, manufacturing and service companies, and government organizations. For more information about Mitek Systems, contact the company at 619/635-5900 or visit the company's Web site at www.miteksys.com. Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure With the exception of historical matters, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainty. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the development and pace of sales of the company's products, expected trends and growth in the company's results of operations, projections concerning the company's available cash flow and liquidity, anticipated penetration in new and existing markets for the company's products and the size of such markets, anticipated acceptance of the company's products by existing and new customers, the ability of the company to sustain any growth in sales and revenue and the increase in sales representatives and other personnel. The company's actual results could differ from such forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that the company will achieve the results set forth herein. Note to Editors: Mitek is a registered trademark of Mitek Systems. -0- WAM/la* LS/la CONTACT: Mitek Systems Inc., San Diego John Thornton/William Boersing, 619/635-5900 or Financial Relations Board, Los Angeles 310/442-0599 Stacy Roughan (General Info) Moira Conlon (Investor Contact) Mary Tokita (Media Contact) KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA GEORGIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMED PRODUCT TRADESHOW Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: businesswire.com *** end of story *** |