Bull - expert in open, flexible and secure information systems, solutions and services and one of Europe's leading players in the IT industry- announces it has signed a definitive agreement for the acquisition of its Medicaid solutions business, mainly dedicated to Public Health and Human Services management in the United States by Ingenix, a leading health information, technology and consulting services company. These operations provide Medicaid and Human Services agencies with nationally recognized business intelligence and data warehousing solutions. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Didier Lamouche, Chairman and CEO of Bull declared: "This business is a 'niche' business for Bull, and as a result, we have decided to accept Ingenix's offer. The transaction will ensure continuity of all existing support and service contracts for these customers in the United States, while at the same time allowing Bull to focus even more intently on its core strategic businesses. Together with the acquisition we are announcing today in High Performance Computing, it demonstrates our determination to accelerate further the transformation of the Group."

Didier Lamouche added: "Ingenix is a large, U.S.-based enterprise, much better positioned to further grow this business, and committed to providing the best prospects for Bull's employees involved in this highly-focused area. I would like to thank all the employees in the Bull Medicaid business for their exceptional dedication to their customers and to the company over the years, and wish them every success with Ingenix."

Bull will focus its activities in the U.S. on four strategic business areas, where the company has long-standing customer relationships. These are IT infrastructure solutions, outsourcing services, IT security and postal automation solutions.

Bull operates in the U.S. through its subsidiary, Bull HN. Bull HN manages one of Bull's major R&D centers based in Phoenix, Ariz., which is dedicated to GCOS and high-end servers. This center will also continue to support Bull U.S. GCOS customers and host the outsourcing business dedicated to GCOS and UNIX users. Bull HN will continue to distribute Bull products and solutions to its customers. In the IT security area Bull's subsidiary Evidian, leader in IAM*, has recently joined forces with Quest which distributes Evidian's unique E-SSO (Enterprise Single Sign-On) security technology. Finally, Bull intends to grow its postal automation activity in the U.S. and worldwide through its subsidiary AddressVision, Inc. located in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

*IAM : Identity and Access Management software

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• The Open World Forum will bring together the most important initiatives in the Open world, in Paris
• The objective: to ensure that Open Source software is a key driver for innovation and competitiveness
• This new event will define the first ever Roadmap for Open Source software over the coming decade (the 2020 FLOSS roadmap)

The main communities and key players from the world of Open Source are joining forces to launch a new event: The Open World Forum: FLOSS, innovation and competitiveness. Taking place in Paris on 1-2 December 2008, the event will provide an international forum enabling the key trends for the future to be identified, and helping to accelerate initiatives in the area of Free, Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS). Bringing together some of the world’s leading experts to explore possible scenarios and make their recommendations, the Forum will provide a platform for the publication of the very first Roadmap for Open Source software between now and 2020.

A central meeting point, bringing together corporations, communities and researchers to help ensure that Open Source software is a driver for innovation and competitiveness
Born out of the world of IT research and having experienced exponential growth with the rise of the Internet, Open Source software is inexorably revolutionizing New Information and Communications Technologies (NICT). This revolution will not only open up exciting new opportunities, but also give rise to major challenges.

At the very heart of this movement, the Forum will establish an international meeting point where players from across the Open Source world and the world of NICT more widely can discuss the issues and stimulate cross-fertilization by exchanging ideas and initiatives.

The event will feature a number of seminars, and will include plenary sessions, community events and technical seminars covering a wide range of topics: from strategic questions to the very latest technological innovations.

The Forum will also provide an umbrella for a large number of other events dealing with the impact of Open Source software on economic models, public policy, FLOSS centers of expertise, information systems governance, legislation, interoperability, quality models, new-generation software factories/forges, and netbooks. At a special session dedicated to Open Source software in the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Brazil will be the guest of honor.

A major initiative: the 2020 FLOSS Roadmap
In addition to the conference itself, the event will enable the major trends for the future to be identified. It will explore how the development of FLOSS-based ecosystems can be encouraged. What breakthroughs, and technological and economic paradigm shifts can we expect in the future? How can the public sector support Open Source to promote economic development? How can businesses use FLOSS as a lever for innovation and competitive differentiation? What impact will Open Source have on information systems governance? Will FLOSS change the whole local landscape for NICT industries, especially in Europe, America and the BRIC economies? The first global initiative of this type, the 2020 FLOSS Roadmap will be debated and published during the Forum.

An initiative bringing together all the key players from world of NICT and Open Source software
Created by a pioneering group of communities and IT industry players, the event has already attracted the majority of the largest FLOSS communities and ITC companies from across three continents.
This brand new initiative, initiated by Bull and other major European and French players from the IT world, the Open World Forum will bring together most of the world’s leading technology and software players in Paris including AtosOrigin, Bull, CapGemini, IBM, HP, SAP, Siemens, Sun, Thales..., as well as the largest FLOSS communities (Apache, Eclipse, QualiPSo, Linux Foundation, OW2,...), major research organizations and competitiveness clusters (Cap Digital, Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, INRIA, Fraunhofer FOKUS, South China University of Technology, System@tic, ...), the main European and French Open Source industry associations (ADULLACT/OSOR, AFUL, April, Silicon Sentier) and a widespread international network of SMEs from across four continents, with the active support of the European Commission, the Paris City Authorities, Ile-de-France regional council and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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