BURLINGTON, MA, May 30, 2000—State, provincial and local governments across the continent have selected the winning candidate for enterprise business intelligence solutions. They’ve chosen Cognos^®. More and more government departments are implementing Cognos solutions to deliver unparalleled service to their communities, while reducing both IT and data management costs. To mark the company’s continued selection as the number one choice in business intelligence solutions, Cognos today will showcase key government agencies that have revolutionized the way in which they manage data and make decisions.

"Governments are under constant pressure to do more with less. The public sector is today looking for innovations in the way in which they organize, share and use information," said Joanne K. Masingill, Cognos senior vice president of marketing. "Cognos enterprise business intelligence solutions allow governments to empower employees with information, determine the effectiveness of government policy and better serve their communities. Today, government departments are using Cognos to break down communication barriers with easy Web reporting capabilities and deliver quality community support at a lower cost with sophisticated data analysis."

Governments are using Cognos to help increase the quality of service to taxpayers, make the streets safer, deliver quality housing and improve education programs for children.

Governments are also employing e-business strategies to help reduce infrastructure IT costs and break down barriers to communications between departments -- and across communities. Cognos is today helping the public sector make effective use of the Internet for distributing and sharing information. Brand new e-government services are being enabled by Cognos solutions.

"Business intelligence traditionally is used by large organizations to aid in decision-making. This is the first time such sophisticated software has been utilized by school officials to analyze standardized testing results in the public sector. The Cognos solution provides an easy-to- understand, yet highly detailed analysis of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) results in each school district," said Dr. John Barranco, managing director of the Merrimack Education Center, a major educational organization supporting schools in Massachusetts.

Officials at state, provincial and local government have selected or deployed Cognos’ market-leading business intelligence solutions, including:

• New York State Human Services Application Service Center

• State of Utah, Division of Finance

• Miami-Dade Police Department

• Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency

• City of Coquitlam, British Columbia

• Merrimack Educational Center

• Erie-1 Board of Cooperative Educational Services

• Ontario Justice Enterprise

• Hamilton County Department of Human Services

• City of Philadelphia

• British Columbia Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations

• Toronto District School Board

"With Cognos, governments today have access to a real-world, effective business intelligence solution, allowing them to deliver unprecedented information access and services to taxpayers," said Masingill.