Aksaas Pte Ltd and EADS Innovation Works (IW) Singapore, the local research unit of Europe's EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company), signed a contract on Dec. 10 that seals their commitment to further develop the patented Secure Enterprise Document Management (SEDM) technology for use in EADS' integrated vision of the office of the future.
SEDM has been created by the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), a research institute under the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
By using A*STAR' SEDM, Aksaas is able to tap the patented algorithms and software engine on document encryption and digital rights management (DRM) for creating enterprise-grade security solutions.
EADS sees potential in the SEDM project for future developments in the area of encryption and DRM technologies as part of an initiative to create new business opportunities and bring efficiencies to the EADS group.
A*STAR Exploit Technologies has been working closely with I2R since 2006 to develop and actively explore commercial applications for SEDM, a technology that allows businesses to protect and secure their enterprise knowledge using innovative methods to control users' access rights as well as their interaction with the document.
As part of its efforts to help transform the Singapore economy through nurturing local start-ups, Exploit Technologies incubated Aksaas for close to 20 months after the company began operations in January 2006 to offer workflow, accounting, document management and other business solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises and multinational corporations.
In partnering the start-up to grow the business in its early days, Exploit Technologies licensed to Aksaas the SEDM development kit (SEDM SDK) from A*STAR to enhance the security of confidential information contained in corporate documents.
Boon Swan Foo, Chairman of Aksaas Pte Ltd and Executive Chairman of Exploit Technologies, said, "We are delighted that EADS has seen the potential of both Aksaas as a promising company to partner with, and SEDM as a robust technology from A*STAR to build their applications upon. This development carries special meaning for Exploit Technologies as we have supported the incubation of Aksaas, and partnered the local start-up through its growth journey.
"In the recent months, Aksaas has proven itself to be a worthy company that has not only graduated from its incubatee status, but has moved on to secure major projects and has itself become an incubator in September this year to help nurture other local Software as a Service (SaaS) providers. We are seeing the fruits of our efforts as our start-ups grow and leverage A*STAR's technologies to make an impact in different industry verticals and stimulate the Singapore economy."
Gan Yeow Beng, Vice President and Head of EADS Innovation Works Singapore, said that the SEDM research had attracted the interest of EADS as part of its work towards an office of the future.
"The results of the first phase undertaken in Singapore in January this year has shown the potential for the development of new software which could enhance security for sensitive documents within corporate environments," he said. "We look forward to working further with Aksaas to moving one step further towards a possible commercialisation of this innovative homegrown project.
"We have been working closely with A*STAR since we started our research and technology centre in Singapore more than two years ago. We are pleased to deepen our partnership with A*STAR through this high-impact project," he added.
Alan Lye, Managing Director of Aksaas Pte Ltd, commented, "We are indeed privileged to collaborate with EADS. This project provides a great learning experience for the team and an excellent opportunity to commercialise cutting edge technology from A*STAR."
For media enquiries, please contact:
Seeto Wei Peng
A*STAR's Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd
Assistant Vice President, Corporate Communications
DID: (65) 6478 8443
Mobile: (65) 8375 9474
Email: weipeng@exploit-tech.com
Alan Lye,
Managing Director
Aksaas Pte Ltd
DID: (65) 6391 9088
Email: alan.lye@aksaas.com
Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd:
Exploit Technologies is the strategic marketing and commercialisation arm of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Its mission is to support A*STAR in transforming the economy through commercialising R&D. Exploit Technologies enhances the research output of A*STAR scientists by translating their inventions into marketable products or processes. Through licensing deals and spin-offs with industry partners, Exploit Technologies is a key driver of technology transfer in Singapore. It actively engages industry leaders and players to commercialise A*STAR's technologies and capabilities, bridging the gap from Mind to Market. Exploit Technologies' charter is to identify, protect and exploit promising intellectual property (IP) created by A*STAR's research institutes.
For more information, please visit http://www.exploit-tech.com
EADS:
EADS Innovation Works (IW) is the corporate research division of EADS working on the development of value-creating products and services through innovative technologies. EADS Innovations Works Singapore was set up in 2006 and manages various R&T projects in close cooperation with Singaporean scientific institutions.
EADS (http://www.eads.com) is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services, and includes Airbus, Eurocopter and EADS Astrium. Its Defence & Security Division is a provider of comprehensive systems solutions, and EADS is part of the Eurofighter consortium, a stakeholder in MBDA and develops the A400M.
Aksaas Pte Ltd:
Aksaas Pte Ltd, a pioneering Singapore-based Company to provide to provide software as a service (SaaS) provider and agency for Science, Technology and Research. Aksaas's mission is to provide software as a service (SaaS) with leading-edge office automation and knowledge engineering technologies to enhance enterprise agility to meet changing business demands, and for decision-maker to affect operations in real-time. Aksaas is incubated by Exploit Technologies, (A* STAR), and leverages A*STAR's technologies to develop its advanced software solutions. Aksaas aims to transform the SaaS business platform into a powerful business environment to power any Aksaas' business operational activities efficiently and with high level executive business intelligence dashboard view for the business owner to make better decisions. More information can be found at http://www.aksaas.com.