Briefs

Chicago, IL, December , 2002 - It wasn't Paris in autumn that drew more than 200 people to the city of lights; it was data mining. SPSS Inc. (Nasdaq: SPSS) hosted a European Data Mining Summit at Le Meridien Etoile in late October, bringing together data mining experts from around the globe to share their experience and insights with business people from more than 20 countries.

During the two-day event, industry visionaries shared their views on the latest data mining trends and technology. Attendees also heard from representatives of organizations such as Nokia, Orange Communications, Procter & Gamble and The Royal Bank of Scotland, who presented real-world stories illustrating how the ways in which data mining is benefiting their organizations today. Sponsors of the event included Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Sybase, Inc.

Earlier this year, SPSS sponsored a North American Data Mining Summit that was held in the Washington, D.C. area. "The Summits provided us with an opportunity to educate a large audience about data mining and its benefits," says Susan Kalell, SPSS senior manager-worldwide events. "The success of the Data Mining Summits and similar events are helping to expand the use of data mining technology throughout the world."

The 2002 European Data Mining Summit included three different tracks: New Directions in Data Mining, Mining Customer Data, and Data Mining In the Public Sector. Keynote addresses were presented by:

• Dr. Wolfgang Martin, independent analyst and META Group Research Fellow, "Data Mining - Turning an Ivory Tower Art into Business Value"
• Dr. Richard D. DeVeaux, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Williams College, Massachusetts, USA, "Data Mining: Where Do We Start"
• Jack Noonan , "Predict or Perish: The Analytics Imperative"

Kim McLynn
Public Relations Manager
SPSS Inc. Corporate Communications
kmclynn@spss.com
Phone  1.312.651.3804 / Fax 1.312.651.3690
SPSS Inc., 233 S. Wacker Dr.,
Chicago, IL 60606
www.spss.com