Lotusphere 99: Papows unveils knowledge management suite

Lotus CEO Jeff Papows chose the Lotusphere 99 conference in Berlin this week to unveil what he claims is the industry's first knowledge management software suite, and announce a joint development deal with Nokia.

In his keynote address at Lotusphere 99 in Berlin, Papows said the knowledge management suite - called Raven - will sit on top of Notes and allow users to create 'information portals' to facilitate information sharing from geographically disparate locations.

The suite includes a translation tool that allows users to communicate in different languages in real-time, and allows skill-based searches for co-workers through an automatically updated database.

Papows added that it is only through knowledge management that traditional bricks-and-mortar companies can fight off the challenge of smaller, more aggressive start-ups. "Traditional business is crossing the e-line with knowledge management as the fundamental enabler," he said.

Cliff Reeves, vice president of product management, Lotus, added that the new suite will "turn the knowledge accident into knowledge management".

Pierre Van Beneden, general manager and senior VP, EMEA, said he is confident that the new software will run on any existing ERP system, and as a bolt-on to Microsoft's Exchange product.

Meanwhile, Papows also detailed a joint development deal with Nokia, which will see
Nokia WAP-enabled (Wireless Application Protocol) phones run off Lotus Domino servers. The deal will also extend to cover the delivery of Lotus applications over wireless links.