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Tuesday
November 7, 6:58 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
North
American DataCom Receives Enterprise Data Storage Contract
IUKA,
MS (November 2000) - The Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative
(MSCI) today announced the award of a $300,000 research
contract to North American DataCom, Inc. (OTC BB: NADA). The
contract is to demonstrate commercial applications of statewide
remote sensing data. North American DataCom will team with
PixSell Inc., a Mississippi information technology company,
and The University of Mississippi's Department of Computer
and Information Science. Under the six-month contract, the
North American DataCom team will expand and enhance the existing
"Mississippi View" data management system. The View System
was developed by PixSell to provide greater access to Mississippi
statewide remote sensing satellite and imagery. The enhanced
archived View System makes it a Real Time asset for education,
state agencies, and MSCI commercial users.
MSCI is a partnership between the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA), The University of Mississippi,
and high technology businesses. NASA and The State of Mississippi
fund MSCI projects. The mission of MSCI is to develop a remote
sensing industry in Mississippi by commercializing the technologies
developed by NASA at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,
MS.
"This contract is an example of the benefits to The State
of Mississippi as a result of its newly formed Communications
Information Technology cluster. The Mississippi cluster of
High Technology Companies are working together with key state
organizations and higher learning centers to advance information
technologies," stated Robert R. Crawford, CEO of North American
DataCom. Mr. Crawford went on to say, "North American's expertise
in the fields of high speed telecommunications, secure mass
data storage and backup, and Internet access will demonstrate
an enhanced Mississippi Views system that is Internet accessible.
The award of this contract indicates that our business strategy
is targeting the high technology marketplace."
North
American will provide enterprise data storage, telecommunication
services, and secure application hosting. PixSell and The
University of Mississippi Computer Science Department will
focus on developing interoperable geographic information applications.
"The
work performed under this contract will set the stage for
more high-technology development and investment in our State,"
Representative Roger Wicker said. "This announcement underscores
Mississippi's increasingly important role in space technology
development and science."
Dr.
Allan Falconer, Director of MSCI stated, "The opportunity
to enable anyone in Mississippi to view, search, study, analyze
and research multiple layers of remote sensing imagery data
covering the entire state of Mississippi is unprecedented.
No other state has such comprehensive data available on line,
if they have the data sets at all."
"PixSell
realized as we designed the Mississippi Views system that
its potential commercial uses and applications go beyond those
anticipated at the start of the project. The Views System
is a sophisticated Mississippi mapping system that incorporates
satellite and other remote data sensing imagery. Users can
study map data imagery or a detailed layered basis, as needed.
The potential commercial applications for a statewide imagery
archive, as well as its utility to state and local government
officials, and the Mississippi geography education programs,
are enormous. These applications create an opportunity, and
a technical challenge." Said Christopher Roberts, chief executive
officer of PixSell, "Working with North American and the University
of Mississippi Computer Science Department enables us to solve
the challenges and demonstrate some of those applications.
Dr.
Pam Lawhead, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the
University of Mississippi stated: "There is a large commercial
opportunity to provide on line access to large-area and State-wide
remote sensing imagery archives. NASA strongly supports applications
of remote sensing for State and local government requirements
and has launched a new program, the State and Local Government
Initiative, to fund research in these applications. We anticipate
that the enhanced Mississippi Views archive system will be
a good fit with NASA's remote sensing applications Strategic
Plans. This project has the potential to develop an entirely
new information technology business in the State of Mississippi,
which can serve the entire nation.
North
American and PixSell are members of the Mississippi Space
Commerce Initiative.
Contact
Information:
| North
American DataCom Inc. |
David
Cray |
662-424-5030
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| PixSell
Inc. |
Donald
Peyton |
228-688-2146
|
| University
of Mississippi |
Prof.
Pam Lawhead |
662-915-5356
|
| Mississippi
Space Commerce Initiative |
Dr.
Allan Falconer |
228-688-1936
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Safe
Harbor Statement
Statements in this announcement constitute forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected
in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and
uncertainties include, among other things, volatility in North
American DataCom's stock price, the ability to raise working
capital and secure necessary financing, uncertainty of future
revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly
operating results, respond to competition and other rapidly
expanding technology. These risks, among others, are and will
be detailed in North American DataCom, Inc. (formerly Pierce
International, Inc.) Securities and Exchange Commission filings,
including Form 10KSB for year ended June 30, 1999, Form 8K
dated December 20, 1999, Form 10Q for quarter ended March
31, 2000, and subsequent reporting and forms yet to be filed.
Filings can be reviewed at www.sec.gov.
North American DataCom's principal executive offices are located
at 751 County Road 989, Building 1000, Iuka, MS 38852. For
further information, contact Investor Relations, 662/424-5030,
and by e-mail at investorrelations@nadata.com.
____________________
Contact:
North
American DataCom, Inc., Iuka
Investor
Relations, 662-424-5030
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