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2006 Excalibur Winners Announced

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Oct 12, 2006

GEORGIA INNOCENCE PROJECT, INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE MACON E. GOOCH III BUILDING CONSULTANTS, SOUTHERN COMPANYARE 2006 EXCALIBUR WINNERS FOR INNOVATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY

ATLANTA (Oct. 13, 2006) – A program to help those convicted of crimes they did not commit prove their innocence and the world’s leading electronic global exchange for trading energy contracts were among the winners the 2006 Excalibur Awards for innovative use of technology.

The winners, presented today at a breakfast co-hosted by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the Business and Technology Alliance (B&TA), were:

n Macon E. Gooch III Building Consultants, smallorganizations;

n Intercontinental Exchange, medium organizations;

n Southern Company, large organizations;

n Georgia Innocence Project, creativity.

“Our congratulations to our winners for their outstanding achievements,” said Tino Mantella, president of TAG. “In the second year of this event, wecouldn’t have been more pleased with the high caliber of entrants.”

Matthew Szulik, chief executive officer of Red Hat, was the keynote speaker at the event held at the Intercontinental Hotel Buckhead in Atlanta. Szulik, whose company is the leading supplier of open source software, told over 300 attendees at the event that he was “bullish” about the future of the technology, especially in large enterprises.

“Our nose is right up against the windshield of the future,” said Szulik, whose company acquired Atlanta-based JBoss earlier this year. “Last year, there was $1 billion of venture capital invested in the open source industry.

”Macon E. Gooch III Building Consultants, Inc. provides inspection services to the residential and commercial construction industry throughout theAtlanta area.They decided to engage The Intellection Group to create a web-based system that supported order handling, field work and office functions.The system captures information from the initial contact through the billing process.

IntercontinentalExchange® (ICE) operates the leading global, electronic marketplace for trading both futures and OTC energy contracts. In 2005, in the face of rapidly increasing trading volumes, ICE set out to reengineer its trading platform in order to meet world class performance standards while at the same time closing its UK based open outcry futures trading pit and executing an initial public offering.

Hurricane Katrina caused more than 90 percent of Southern Company’s Mississippi customers to lose power. Southern Company restored power to all customers who could receive it in a record 12 days. Some of the innovative applications of technology that made this possible were: Southern LINCWireless – Southern Company’s cellular, push-to-talk subsidiary – which was the only communications provider working immediately after the storm; thecompany’s redundant SONET ring network; GPS technology installed in first responder vehicles; and the company’s automated resource management system.

The Georgia Innocence Project (GIP) uses DNA technology to exonerate wrongly convicted inmates in Georgia. Since the advent of post-conviction DNA testing, the technology has proven 184 Americans -- including five Georgians -- innocent long after their convictions. In addition to freeing the wrongly convicted, the technology has also solved dozens of previously unsolved crimes.

In addition to the winners, the finalists for the 2006 Excalibur Awards included:

· Small Organizations – Georgia Systems Operations Corporation and InnoSource Business Solutions, Inc.

· Medium Organizations – Kauffman Tire and Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits

· Large Organizations – Shaw Industries, Inc., and AGCO Corporation

· Creativity – NetBank and Flag Financial Corporation/Flag Bank

Nominees for the Excalibur Award were judged on a variety of criteria including the scope of the problem solved, the creativity of the technology- enabled solution, return on investment and business results.

”As we concluded the second year of this event, we were thrilled with the wide range of support from the technology community,” said Marc Fleury, chairperson of the event and chief executive officer of JBoss. “We doubled our number of applications for the Excalibur Awards over last year. The event is continuing to build momentum and we look forward to bigger and better Excalibur Awards in coming years.”

The Excalibur Awards recognize tech-enabled companies, TAG’s winter event, known as the Georgia Technology Summit, shines the spotlight oninnovative technology companies. That event is slated for February 28, 2007 at the Cobb Galleria.

About TAG

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to support its members by generating opportunities for personal, professional and business growth. By forging strategic alliances, TAG serves as a primary catalyst to foster a rich environment for economicdevelopment in Georgia’s technology community. Founded in 1999 through the merger of the Business & Technology Alliance (B&TA), the Southeastern Software Association (SSA) and Women in Technology (WIT), TAG is one of the largest state technology associations in the nation. TAG is made up of 2400 members representing technology leaders from over 1500 Georgia-based companies, affiliated technology and business organizations. For more information on TAG, visit www.tagonline.org, email info@tagonline.org or call (404) 817-3333.

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