GENEVA and STOCKHOLM, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

- Partnership to Bring Workforce Mobility to New Level as Pilot Projects
Seek to Eliminate Information Overload, Boost Productivity and Reduce Costs
Dramatically

SITA, the specialist airline IT provider, and Appear, the
leader in context-aware software infrastructure, today announced a
partnership which will shortly implement the first-ever context-aware mobile
platform for the air transport industry (ATI).

Uniquely, this new platform will provide common-use access to
ATI applications "on demand" over wireless networks, tackle information
overload and allow airlines, ground handlers and other airport customers to
escape dependence on manual processes, voice communications and back-office
reporting for a wide range of critical operational functions, on an
unprecedented scale.

For example, the mobile workforce concept enabled by handheld
devices allows aircraft turnaround with one duty manager for 4-5 aircraft
rather than the present "norm" of one duty manager per aircraft turnaround.
One airline is projecting double-digit reductions in aircraft line
maintenance intervention time and critical work-process improvements.
Similarly, ground handlers will save on fuel bills and benefit from workforce
efficiency gains thanks to remote management of diesel-powered aircraft
heaters and other ground service equipment. They will also increase revenues
thanks to more accurate usage reporting.

Greg Ouillon, SITA VP for Innovation, said: "As mobile
devices, networks and applications became ubiquitous, the last and most
important piece of the technology ecosystem required by SITA was to provide a
common-use platform to enable on-demand mobility services at any airport."

Context-aware technology revolutionizes how information is
delivered, received and presented on mobile devices. No longer do the users
need to know what they are looking for: The Appear Context Engine analyses
each user's situation (context) and determines what information the user
needs, what data, voice or video needs to be delivered in real time, on the
job. The technology is tightly integrated with SITA's back-end applications
and business process modelling tools.

Xavier Aubry, CEO Appear, said: "For the first time, an entire
industry will be able to deploy on-demand mobile workforce services, anywhere
in the world, in order to significantly reduce IT costs and optimize business
processes. From day one, the solution will be able to reach out to over 250
airports where SITA infrastructure is already in place and to support tens of
thousands of users."

More information is available at http://www.appearnetworks.com
and http://www.sita.aero

Press Contact Appear:
    Angela J. Hepburn
    Be-SR SARL Media Relations
    Mobile: +33-6-84-81-51-56
    Email: angieh@beseenandread.com
 
    Press Contact SITA:
    Denis McClean, Director, Public Relations
    Tel:    +41-22-747-6824
    Mobile: +41-79-2173357
    Email: Denis.McClean@sita.aero