Press Release

Novell Connects Global Leaders at World Economic Forum 1998 East Asia Economic Summit

Novell Chairman and CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt to Co-Chair Singapore Meeting

SINGAPORE — October 12, 1998 — Novell, Inc, global leader in directory-enabled networking software, will provide and support full-service messaging and Internet information solutions for all participants at the seventh East Asia Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum taking place here October 12 to 15. The Internet solutions, based on Novell's GroupWise e-mail and collaboration product, will enable the dignitaries in attendance to communicate with their colleagues and constituents worldwide. Novell, one of the World Economic Forum's technology partners, will also participate in the summit agenda, with Novell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Eric Schmidt, serving as co-Chairman of the Singapore event.

The summit will bring together 1,000 participants from the member companies of the World Economic Forum worldwide, heads of state and key ministers from the region, public figures from Europe and USA, business leaders from Asia, Europe and North America, as well as leading commentators, opinion makers and experts. The working theme for the summit is "Pushing ahead with responses to the crisis: Shaping the new economic landscape in Asia".

"Information networks have become the catalysts for new kinds of communities within the world economy," said Dr. Schmidt. "Information networks in the twenty-first century will enable more people in more places to establish their roles in these global communities and express their identity. We see that trend in action at the World Economic Forum, with world leaders gaining hands-on exposure to networking technology for creating and managing an identity on the Internet."

In addition to Dr. Schmidt, the other co-Chairmen of the Summit are Helmut Maucher, Chairman of the Board at Nestl‚ Switzerland; James Schiro, Chairman and Senior Partner, Price Waterhouse, USA; Roberto Romulo, Chairman, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Philippines; and Philip Yeo, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Worldwide Messaging

For the summit, Novell is providing an easy-to-use e-mail and Internet application based on GroupWise 5, Novell's high-performance, Internet-ready collaboration solution that enables businesses to gather, access and communicate information easily from a single interface. Working in concert with other Novell products such as Novell Directory Services® (NDS™) and NetWare® 5, GroupWise 5.5® provides the most scalable, reliable and powerful collaboration solution available. Novell will also support the broadcast of selective plenary sessions of the summit on the homepage of the World Economic Forum by providing video-streaming services in partnership with RealNetworks.

The messaging solution, accessible to delegates via workstations at strategic locations throughout the conference, runs on Novell's NetWare 5 server platform. The solution utilizes ISDN for fast and secure access to the Internet. The NetWare platform also uses the industry-standard Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate between workstations and servers, offers multiple e-mail gateways and supports all major Internet browsers. In addition to sending and receiving messages locally or on the Internet, delegates can also access stored information for details about fellow delegates and the countries and companies they represent.

Several features of the Novell messaging solution are designed to meet the special needs of top executives and other luminaries for ease of use and airtight security. These capabilities include:

  • An advanced security system that allows users to access the system by scanning in individual identity badges

  • Fast response to user commands to retrieve or dispatch messages, regardless of the number of messages stored

  • A customized user interfaces that uses special color-coordinated keyboards and screen options to make sending and receiving messages easy

  • Integration with Internet e-mail (POP3) for access to e-mail from outside the summit
A special Internet Web site, designed and hosted by Novell, is also available to delegates at the summit's Internet Business Center. The Web site includes up-to-date meeting information and also provides participants with links to related Web sites in the Singapore and South Asia region. Novell personnel will be on hand to answer queries and to help delegates make optimum use of both the Web site and messaging system.

During the previous 1998 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Novell's messaging system handled some 27,000 messages. Novell technicians expect an even higher level of traffic at the Singapore conference as Internet savvy continues to permeate the top levels of business and politics.

About Novell

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet, Intranet and small- business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

Novell, GroupWise, Novell Directory Services and NetWare are registered trademarks and NDS are trademarks of Novell, Inc.

Novell Press Contact:
Shannon Harmon
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 228-5126
Internet: sharmon@novell.com