[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] BTLooksmart, the joint venture between search infrastructure LookSmart and British Telecommunications (BT), has opened its regional headquarters in Sydney.
BTLooksmart will roll out its Internet search and content directory designed to enable Web publishers, media outlets, content aggregators and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from Sydney into the Asia Pacific region, to provide the most relevant information to their customers at local, national and global levels in a range of languages.
The company provides its search solutions internationally to Internet portals, ISPs and Web sites including Microsoft’s MSN, Netscape Netcenter, Time Warner, Excite@Home, Sony, BT and AltaVista.
BTLooksmart said nearly 2 million high-quality Internet ‘URL’ addresses have already been organized by human editors, delivered in logical configurations across the Internet and wireless mobile devices to more than 52 million users in 15 languages worldwide, and servicing business customers in 20 countries.
With a commitment to creating more than 120 jobs by 2004, BTLooksmart expects to play a role in introducing a range of new labour force skills into Sydney’s developing IT workforce.
“We expect BTLooksmart’s presence in Sydney will attract support from a range of local industries and interest from other Internet companies leading to the convergence of economies and, in turn, the growth of industry in NSW,” said NSW Treasurer and Minister for State Development, the Hon. Michael Egan, MLC.
“This announcement confirms Sydney’s reputation as both an international center for IT and a major economic force within the Asia Pacific region in its own right,” he said.
“For BTLooksmart, the local workforce offered a valuable resource of highly educated, multi-lingual talent that is knowledgeable and skilled in high technology and was a critical factor in deciding the location of our regional headquarters,” said BTLooksmart’s chief executive officer Tim Pethick.
“Sydney was chosen as the ideal location for the company’s Asia Pacific headquarters because it offered access to a robust economy, proximity to the Asian region and a multi-lingual workforce,” he continued. “BTLooksmart has attracted an exceptionally high calibre management team here to deliver our promise and plan to customers and shareholders alike.”
