First-ever use of secure social networking by world leaders delivers enhanced collaboration for G-20 Summit

Issued by Global Research Partners for Open Text

Johannesburg, 30 Jun 2010

For the first time in the history of G-20 Summits, policymakers from around the world were able to collaborate over secure social networking software in advance of and during the G-20 Toronto Summit - and the collaboration continues.

A confidential and secure social networking application was created by Open Text Corporation, Canada's largest software company and the pre-eminent provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software, to enhance the sharing of government leaders' stance on important world financial issues.

"This social networking platform is a great example of private business stepping up and ensuring Canada's leadership in the digital economy," commented Tony Clement, Canada's Industry Minister. “The application will help bridge geographic and cultural gaps and get full value from global events of this kind.”

Providing the secure, hosted social networking platform to G-8 and G-20 participants was in itself a collaboration between Open Text, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), the organisation that attracted hi-tech companies to the event, and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). In addition, to secure Web access from anywhere in the world in real-time, delegates were also able to access the application from their BlackBerrys, iPhones and iPads. The application supported multiple languages to enhance the ability of delegates to network productively.

“Senior diplomats and other officials representing G-20 countries used the social networking platform to collaborate in the months prior to the 26-27 June event so that when the Summit got under way, issues and perspectives were shared over a secure network,” added Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at Open Text. “Access to social networking enables critical issues to be addressed in real-time and be inclusive of multiple opinions.”

Given the heightened focus on security and privacy around the world, G-20 organisers avoided use of consumer grade social media tools that lack enterprise-strength security controls. At the same time, social media offers a more productive environment for networking and collaboration than e-mail, so a solution that combines the benefits without risk was needed. G-8 and G-20 Summit participants who used the Open Text social networking application report that it required minimal training and provided an intuitive Web browser experience tailored to their needs.

Open Text's Social Workplace software, based on Open Text's ECM Suite of products, was also used to provide a social networking platform for Summit participants, including news outlets and businesses, in conjunction with Open Text Everywhere mobile software, which enabled application downloads to Summit participants' BlackBerrys, iPhones and iPads. Participants were able to connect with expert sources, including hundreds of librarians and other content matter experts on-call to provide prompt answers to questions. The participant social networking site can be found at: http://www.g20net.org.

Open Text also used its Digital Experience Management software and its Content Server software to create a virtual environment to share hi-tech displays from the Experience Canada Marketing Pavilion - housing the International Media Centre - with the rest of the world over the Internet. The Digital Experience Management software digitises and virtualises images to be portrayed in a 3D format. The link to the virtual site is: http://www.vg20net.org.

“The goal for the virtual environment shared via the Internet was to make the Summits more relevant to a broader global audience and showcase technology examples from Canadian digital media companies, as well as marketing tourist destinations throughout the province of Ontario where the Summit was held, and Canada as a whole,” continued Jenkins.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together industrialised and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy, in response to financial crises of the late 1990s. G-20 events are held regularly around the world, with the next major G-20 Summit slated for Seoul, Korea in November this year.

For further information, please contact Rob Shaw: tel +27 83 626-3811, fax +27 86 646-4178, e-mail rshaw@opentext.com.

Open Text

Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organisations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 50 million users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts to help organisations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness.

In southern Africa, Open Text's business partners are Accenture, Business Connexion, Datacentrix, IA Systems and SAP Africa; and, its customer base includes organisations from across both the private and public sectors such as Alexander Forbes, Anglo Platinum, BMW, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Distell, Engen, Exxaro Resources, Mittal Steel, Office of the President, Provincial Government of the Western Cape, SABMiller, Sasol, Telkom SA and Toyota.

Safe harbour statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the success of any of the company's strategic initiatives, the company's growth and profitability prospects, the benefits of the company's products to be realised by customers, the company's position in the market and future opportunities therein, the deployment of Open Text ECM Suite and our other products by customers, and future performance of Open Text Corporation. Forward-looking statements may also include, without limitation, any statement relating to future events, conditions or circumstances. Forward-looking statements in this release are not promises or guarantees and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others, the failure to develop new products, risks involved in fluctuations in currency exchange rates, delays in purchasing decisions of customers, the completion and integration of acquisitions, the possibility of technical, logistical or planning issues in connection with deployments, the continuous commitment of the Company's customers, demand for the company's products and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009. You should not place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which are based on management's beliefs and opinions at the time the statements are made, and the company does not undertake any obligations to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's beliefs or opinions change.

Copyright (c) 2010 by Open Text Corporation. OPEN TEXT, OPEN TEXT EVERYWHERE and the OPEN TEXT ECM SUITE are trademarks or registered trademarks of Open Text Corporation in the United States of America, Canada, the European Union and/or other countries. SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. This list of trademarks is not exhaustive. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names, company names, brands and service names mentioned herein are property of Open Text Corporation or other respective owners.

For more information on Open Text, go to: http://www.opentext.com.

Editorial contacts