TOKYO, Feb. 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UBIC, Inc. (Nasdaq:UBIC) (TSE:2158), a leading provider of international litigation support and big-data analysis services, today announced that Rappa, Inc., a subsidiary of UBIC charged with providing artificial intelligence (AI)-based digital marketing services, and Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. (TSE:4812) ("ISID") have formed a business alliance to jointly support the introduction of an AI-based digital curation service.
The digital curation service provided by the two companies recommends stores and products predicted to suit individual users’ preferences based on various comments and reviews posted on the Internet. It features the ability to match users with products and services and make suitable recommendations with high accuracy by using UBIC’s KIBIT AI engine to analyze vast amounts of user comments in social media. Conventional matching methods rely on ranking scores based on attributes such as age and gender or on estimates of preferences based on similarities in shopping and other behavior patterns. Unlike such methods, the AI-based digital curation service identifies individual users’ preferences and sensibilities through advanced text analysis using the KIBIT AI engine and makes personal recommendations tailored to them.
ISID and UBIC started co-development of the digital curation service in March 2015, and are now starting to provide the service after completing the verification and function development processes based on a wide variety of data. The service will be provided mainly to operators of major buzz marketing websites and E-commerce websites. The provision of the service will be accompanied by the development of systems suited to clients’ individual requirements and support for introduction of the service.
By using this service, site operators will be able to provide users with recommendations automatically made by the KIBIT AI engine based users’ input of their preferences and sensibilities, enabling them to skip the process of reading a huge volume of word-of-mouth information and reviews when selecting stores and products. This will give users the opportunity to be matched with stores and products based on their exhibited interests that they would not likely have found otherwise. It also allows website operators to increase their web traffic and promote their businesses. Moreover, based on information of users’ preferences concerning books, for example, the KIBIT AI engine can estimate their preference patterns and make recommendations in a variety of other fields, such as recommending hotels predicted to suit their preferences.
The digital curation service will also be useful for companies that need to plan and develop products and services from the consumers’ viewpoint, including manufacturers and financial institutions. Such companies will be able to use the service for developing new products and improving services by analyzing consumers’ comments posted on product sites and community sites and identifying their potential needs as explicit knowledge.
Rappa will contribute to the service by providing the KIBIT AI engine, while ISID will be responsible for promoting and selling the service to client companies, developing systems suited to their individual requirements, implementing data verification and supporting introduction of the system. The two companies will also cooperate with Dentsu Inc.’s digital marketing business division in promoting and selling the service.
About UBIC, Inc.
UBIC, Inc. (Nasdaq:UBIC) (TSE:2158) supports the analysis of big data based on behavior informatics by utilizing its technology, "KIBIT". UBIC's KIBIT technology is driven by UBIC AI based on knowledge acquired through its litigation support services. The KIBIT incorporates experts' tacit knowledge, including their experiences and intuitions, and utilizes that knowledge for big data analysis. UBIC continues to expand its business operations by applying KIBIT to new fields such as healthcare and marketing.UBIC was founded in 2003 as a provider of e-discovery and international litigation support services. These services include the preservation, investigation and analysis of evidence materials contained in electronic data, and computer forensic investigation. UBIC provides e-discovery and litigation support by making full use of its data analysis platform, "Lit i View®", and its Predictive Coding technology adapted to Asian languages.
For more information about UBIC, contact usinfo@ubicna.com or visit
http://www.ubic-global.com.
About Rappa, Inc.
Rappa, Inc. applies UBIC’s proprietary AI technology to digital marketing and engages in such businesses as providing digital curation services and operating community websites. It uses AI technology to identify people’s interests and preferences and find necessary information from among the mass of data available on the Internet. Through such activity, Rappa aims to contribute to social development by providing people with opportunities to find information valuable for themselves and helping to unlock their creative potential. Rappa was founded on September 1, 2015, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of UBIC with capital of JPY10 million.
About Information Services International-Dentsu, Ltd. (ISID)
Since its establishment in 1975, ISID has provided comprehensive services as a business partner for its clients, from consulting services to system planning, design, development, operations and maintenance support. ISID aims to be an “IT Solution Innovator” and is proactively developing business operations in a wide range of fields, including solutions for financial institutions, product development solutions, group management and consolidated accounting, human resource management (personnel, payment and performance management), ERP, marketing, and cloud-based services.
For more information about ISID, contact g-pr@isid.co.jp or visit http://www.isid.co.jp/english/.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the amount of data that UBIC expects to manage this year and the potential uses for UBIC's new service in intellectual property-related litigation, contain forward-looking statements. UBIC may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about UBIC's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: UBIC's goals and strategies; UBIC's expansion plans; the expected growth of the data center services market; expectations regarding demand for, and market acceptance of, UBIC's services; UBIC's expectations regarding keeping and strengthening its relationships with customers; UBIC's plans to invest in research and development to enhance its solution and service offerings; and general economic and business conditions in the regions where UBIC provides solutions and services. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in UBIC's reports filed with, or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. UBIC does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and UBIC undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.