Catalysts Limited

Searching for information on space exploration is now much easier thanks to UK software developers Smartlogic. The company's semantic software package Semaphore has been implemented by NASA to classify automatically half a century's information on the manned space flight programme. Working in partnership with Google, whose Search Appliance already manages the vast volume of data NASA stores, Semaphore provides a contextual semantic search facility for the space agency's staff.

Smartlogic's CEO, Jeremy Bentley, says, "The amount of information that enterprises have to handle these days is orders of magnitude larger than a few years ago. It's far more than a search engine alone, with its non-existent grasp of the domain, can handle. Users looking for a particular document, or all the information relating to a specific subject, for example, Saturn, need accurate, precise search results delivered in context to the subject being researched. They don't have time to sift through thousands of pages of search results - some to do with Saturn rockets, some with the planet Saturn and others to do with the brand of car. The semantic search experience delivered by Semaphore solves this problem of information inaccuracy and overload."

Smartlogic's software works with an organisation's existing classification system and tags new content to improve vastly the process of finding relevant documents. The deployment of Semaphore on NASA's extensive library of information on manned space flight will drive the search experience forward and ensure that users can find exactly what they need.