MI International takes on Laurent Marlein for the coordination of data modelling





-/June 23, 2005 - Wi-Fi Technology News/-MI International ? the single source of comprehensive European Points of Interest (POI) and business data ? has appointed Belgium-based Laurent Marlein to coordinate data modelling and software development.

Marlein holds an MSc in engineering (University Ghent) and an MBA (Vlerick School for Management), and has fourteen years? experience in the ICT sector. He is a specialist in product and information management with previous experience in the satellite navigation industry, most notably with Tele Atlas and Siemens VDO Dayton.

MI International supplies bespoke data packages designed to suit the specific commercial needs of its customers. Besides data that?s ideal for satellite navigation and other mobile systems, DQ/DA and off- and online directories, MI delivers integrated financial information and business lists providing contact details and classifications.

Laurent Marlein said: ?I look forward to this new challenge. Satellite navigation is gaining more and more popularity in the market and MI International is a unique player in the sector. I will be extending their data model for future navigation and other market requirements and adapting their software tools to optimise the data aggregation and enhancement process.?

MI?s chief executive, Dominic Tonner, commented: ?Due to the large amounts of POI and business data ? in excess of 25 million records at the last count ? and the various sources supplying that data, MI needs a system that can help us handle challenges such as the de-duplication of records, normalisation of company names, standardisation of addresses and categorisation of POIs. There appeared to be no other system on the market that could give us the level of accuracy we require so we decided to enhance our own. We have worked with Laurent in the past, and his skill and experience as well as his knowledge of European markets, make him the ideal choice to undertake this project.

Tonner continues: ?This system will not only help us to continually improve the quality of our data, but we will also aggregate the data more quickly and be able to deliver more frequently to our customers, thus ensuring the data they receive is the most up-to-date available. It will also leave our internal technical resource free to concentrate on extending our services, such as the implementation of web services that will allow real-time exchange of POIs.?



MI International provides the largest and most comprehensive single source of POI and business data in Europe. It is unique in aggregating data from the most up-to-date and reliable sources throughout Europe to create a database of more than 25 million European POI and business records. From this database, MI is able to provide bespoke data solutions to fit a broad variety of commercial applications, particularly for satellite navigation and other mobile applications as well as DQ/DA and off- and online directories. In addition, MI International is constantly seeking data for new categories and territories, including Eastern Europe, North America and Australasia in order to provide even greater scope for its customers.

Visit http://www.mi-int.com for more information on MI International.