Posted: 28 January 2008
UCD spin-out company, ChangingWorlds signs seven figure deal with Vodacom
During the recent Irish Trade Mission to South Africa led by An Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, UCD spin-out company ChangingWorlds, the global expert in intelligent content discovery and subscriber intelligence for the Mobile Internet, signed a seven figure deal with leading mobile operator Vodacom. With over 23 million customers, Vodacom, one of Vodafone Global’s most important operations, is the number one mobile operator in South Africa.
“This business mission, expertly organised by Enterprise Ireland, was an ideal opportunity to get government level endorsement and strengthen relationships with existing partners and clients in South Africa,” said Vincent Ryan, VP of International Sales & Marketing, ChangingWorlds. “We have a long-term relationship with Vodacom and we are delighted that our latest deal with Vodacom coincides with the visit of An Taoiseach and Minister Micheál Martin to South Africa to promote Irish business.”
ChangingWorlds, a University College Dublin spin-out company, developed its ClixSmart technology as part of an extensive research programme in University College Dublin’s Smart Media Institute. The company maintains a strong strategic link with the university as its ongoing R&D activities are based in NovaUCD, the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at UCD.
Pictured (l-r): Mr Vincent Ryan, VP of International Sales & Marketing, ChangingWorlds; Mr Peter Matlare, Chief Strategy Officer, Vodacom; Minister Micheál Martin TD, Minster Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Mr Ian Finnegan, EMEA Sales Director, ChangingWorlds and Mr Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland.
Vodacom will deploy ChangingWorlds’ entire ClixSmart Intelligent Portal Platform over its mobile portal Vodafone Live! This will incorporate ChangingWorlds’ suite of intelligent content discovery and personalization solutions for mobile data as well as sophisticated portal management. Based on advanced artificial intelligence technology, the ClixSmart™ Platform will significantly enhance mobile content relevance and will optimise the user experience of Vodafone Live!, resulting in greater ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for Vodacom.
The ChangingWorlds’ ClixSmart Intelligent Portal Platform offers a suite of intelligent content discovery and personalization solutions for mobile data, as well as sophisticated portal management. The ClixSmart Intelligent Portal Platform will add advanced artificial intelligence technology to Vodacom’s Vodafone live! portal to enhance mobile content relevance and optimize the user experience.
The South Africa Trade Mission was organised by Enterprise Ireland to help Irish companies capitalise on the growing opportunities in South Africa. The mission included Irish companies who are active in this market and those who have included South Africa in their business development strategy for 2008.
ChangingWorlds
ChangingWorlds was founded in 1999 to commercialise the award-winning ClixSmart personalisation engine developed to solve the usability and content discovery problems of the mobile internet as part of an extensive research programme in the Smart Media Institute at University College Dublin.
The company’s ClixSmart™ Intelligent Portal platform offers a personalised content discovery solution that enhances content relevance and optimises the user experience of the wireless internet, resulting in greater ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) for the network operator.
ClixSmart is used by over 45 wireless operators worldwide including the Vodafone Global Group, O2 UK & O2 Germany, the TeliaSonera Group, Celcom Malaysia and Hong Kong CSL.
Vodacom
Vodacom is a Pan-African cellular communications company providing a GSM service to more than 28.2 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, and in Mozambique. Vodacom South Africa launched its 3G network in December 2004 and subsequently its 3G HSDPA network in March 2006. Vodacom Tanzania will roll out its 3G network in the near future.
Vodacom is the market leader in all of the countries where it currently operates, with a 58% market share in the South African market; Africa's largest and most profitable cellular market. Shareholding: Telkom SA - 50%, Vodafone Group Plc - 50%.
NovaUCD
NovaUCD is University College Dublin’s €11 million Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre. It is responsible for the commercialisation of intellectual property arising from UCD research and for the development of co-operation with industry and business. As a purpose-built centre, NovaUCD also nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. There are currently twenty-three knowledge-intensive companies located in NovaUCD.