Iowa Taps Bull for Data Warehouse, Virage for Video Services

Bull Americas Inc. of Billerica, Mass., has won a $2 million contract from the state of Iowa to install an enterprise data warehouse that will enable the state to bring most of its government services online in the next two or three years, Iowa officials announced Jan. 3.

Bull, a subsidiary of Groupe Bull of Louveciennes, France, will be responsible for design and implementation of the data warehouse. The contract, which state officials said may increase in value over time, will be performed by the company's public-sector business unit.

In the first phase of implementation, state agencies will use the warehouse to evaluate programs, reduce costs and detect fraud and abuse, said officials. Eventually, the warehouse will serve as a repository for information that citizens will access to conduct government business and transactions on the Internet.

Also Jan. 3, Virage Inc. of San Mateo, Calif., announced that Iowa will use the company's Internet video application platform to provide residents and schools with access to state digital video content as part of a statewide education initiative.

Iowa will use Virage software to encode, index and catalog digital video and audio information that Iowa will license. The information will be shared among K-12 schools, community colleges, universities and citizens, said company and state officials.

Virage is actively pursuing similar opportunities in other states, said Jonathan Hirshon, a Virage spokesman.