Tele Atlas North America, Inc., a digital mapping company and a provider of digital map databases and real-time traffic information, and Ascential Software Corporation, announced Oct. 14 that they have signed an alliance agreement under which Ascential plans to incorporate Tele Atlas digital map databases into future Ascential Software product offerings. “To obtain operational efficiencies and competitive advantages, corporations are increasingly challenged to understand and manage the spatial aspect of their data. Risk management, vehicle routing, facility planning, campaign marketing, and customer profitability analysis are just a few of the strategic applications that often require knowledge of location and distance. Furthermore, our own business is global, and our customers’ data are frequently multi-national in scope, hence the need for spatial data integration technologies that span language and political boundaries,” said Stephen Brown, executive director of product management at Ascential Software. “Tele Atlas is one of the few companies that can provide worldwide data coverage, including superior addressing attributes. The combination of Ascential’s spatial data integration technologies with Tele Atlas’ expanding global database will fulfill the growing OEM and end-user demand for a sole-sourced worldwide geocoding solution.” Potential markets for the resulting Ascential Software geocoding/database offerings under this agreement include wireless, Internet, insurance, telecommunications, utilities, banking, retail and mass marketing. "This combination of data quality/integration technologies and our database delivers a powerful tool to the market," said Kiyoshi Hamai, vice president, market development at Tele Atlas North America, Inc. “With its unique probabilistic matching engine, Ascential’s GeoLocator will facilitate informed decisions based on highly accurate and comprehensive map data. Working with Ascential will for the first time create a global geocoding solution for multi-national companies.” About Tele Atlas North America, Inc.
Tele Atlas North America, Inc., headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tele Atlas NV. Tele Atlas North America had its beginnings in 1983 with a vision to provide geographic information in digital form. The company focuses on providing content to key market sectors including Location Based Services (LBS), Telematics/Automotive Navigation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For more information on Tele Atlas products and services, please visit www.na.teleatlas.comAbout Ascential
Ascential Software Corporation is a provider of enterprise integration solutions to the Global 2000. Ascential says their data integration Suite enables customers to collect, validate, organize, administer and deliver information. Headquartered in Westboro, Mass., Ascential has offices worldwide and supports more than 2,100 customers in such industries as financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, consumer goods and retail. More information on Ascential can be found on the Web at www.ascentialsoftware.com.