IBM announced today that it had purchased Language Analysis Systems (LAS) of Herndon, VA. LAS will stay in its current location, near Dulles Airport, but receive greater funding and a larger reach than it was able to achieve on its own.
LAS creates software that offers "multicultural name recognition." In other words, different languages and cultures treat names differently. Things such as name order, multiple titles (Herr Professor in German, for example), and multiple name variants (e.g., Jorg, Juergen) make it difficult to figure out if this name is the same as that somewhat similar name. This capability is crucial in applications such as fraud detection, employee screening
This is the capability that IBM has purchased, making it a part of IBM's Information on Demand and Master Data Management initiatives. Coming a little over a year after IBM's purchase of SRD, the acquisition of LAS means that IBM is not bashful about purchasing and leveraging powerful entity analysis technology.
In fact, one of the most interesting parts about the briefing call was a throwaway line during the Q&A at the end. It was made by John Slitz, formerly of SRD, now an IBM employee. He noted that since IBM had purchased SRD, the company had grown from 56 to 120, with only two of the original complement of SRD employees leaving. With that kind of investment and growth, IBM is going after this portion of the market with a vengence.
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