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27th May 2008

Giunti Labs wins 'Platinum' at the IMS Global Learning Consortium '2008 Learning Impact Awards'

Leading learning and mobile content management technology provider, Giunti Labs has won a 'Platinum' Learning Impact Award (LIA). The Giunti Labs' learn eXact learning content management system LCMS won the award for its application with Volkswagen Group Italia, the fully owned Italian subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, which distributes Volkswagen, Škoda, Audi and SEAT motor vehicles and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Italy.

This application of the learn eXact LCMS also won two 'best in category' awards - for the best corporate training solution and the best learning system - from shortlisted entries collected from all over the world.

A broadening dealer network; increasing the number of participants in training and the number of needed training courses; the increasing number of car models, and their technological complexity; the increasing need to train staff, dealers and service partners rapidly, as well as rising the quality standards in training prompted Volkswagen Group Italia to implement a blended learning approach.

This approach addresses individual training needs by defining key competencies and skill gaps.

Volkswagen Group Italia uses this analysis to plan tailored training programmes to develop individuals' key competencies.

This has improved the availability of training courses and cut down the need for face-to-face training, thus reducing 'time to competency' for learners. The improvement in overall efficiency in training reduces training costs - notably those associated with travel and time.

In turn, this has increased the organisation's overall productivity.

In 2005, Volkswagen Group Italia selected Giunti Labs' learn eXact for its e-learning programme implementation.

Volkswagen Group Italia needed to create a multi-domain portal, which could be fully integrated with PetrA, the dealer portal; BDO, the dealer database, and Ad@ the employees' portal. The aim was to achieve full integration of 'single sign on' with company's application for the face-to-face training activities.

Multi-delivery options - via such things as CD-ROM, Mobiles, Smartphones, and even wearable PCs - offer dealers and service partners a high degree of flexibility in accessing the learning materials.

"Advanced user performance tracking functionalities of the selected platform are fundamental as well as skills management options for individual learning programme planning," explained Volkswagen Group Italia's Laura Apostoli. "Learning Object based content production architecture and compliance with the main e-learning standards and specifications guarantee that the adopted solution is future proof.

"Essentially, the customised learn eXact LCMS solution allows Volkswagen Group Italia to organise all its learning content into one single LCMS and digital repository. Most importantly, Volkswagen Group Italia legacy content has been transferred into the system and tagged with a SCORM-based metadata and taxonomies framework.

"Using this approach enables Volkswagen Group Italia to manipulate and re-use content seamlessly between different formats and to create different deliveries of the same content from one single source," she said.

During 2006, 18 training courses were deployed across different brands and training sectors in the Volkswagen Group Italia. Based on the positive results and the feedback, learn eXact has now been fully integrated in the dealer portal.

The LIAs - the results of the world's annual competition of high impact use of technology to support and enhance learning - were announced by the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS GLC), a global, non-profit, member organisation, supported by over 115 organisations, that strives to enable the growth and impact of learning technology in the education and corporate learning sectors worldwide. The LIAs recognise use of technology - in context - to improve learning across all industry segments and in all regions of the world.

Twenty-three finalists were evaluated by an expert panel of judges at the IMS annual Learning Impact conference and Summit on Global Learning Industry Challenges, held in Austin, Texas. Entries are evaluated according to eight criteria of impact, including improving access to learning, improving affordability of learning, and improving the quality of learning.

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Notes for Editors

About IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS GLC)

IMS Global Learning is a global, non-profit, member organisation, supported by over 115 organisations, that strives to enable the growth and impact of learning technology in the education and corporate learning sectors worldwide. IMS GLC members provide leadership in shaping and growing the learning industry through community development of interoperability and adoption practice standards and recognition of the return on investment from learning and educational technology. For more information, including the world's most comprehensive set of learning technology interoperability standards, information on the annual Learning Impact conference and awards program, and free community resources for learning technology leaders, visit www.imsglobal.org

About Volkswagen Group Italia

Volkswagen Group Italia, based in Verona, is the fully owned Italian subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, distributing Volkswagen, Škoda, Audi and SEAT motor vehicles and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Volkswagen Group Italia has about 1.000 employees and over 1,300 dealers and service partners. Specific training, aiming at improving selling expertise and service quality is designed for more than 20,000 workers in dealers and service partners.

About Giunti Labs

Giunti is unique in the international publishing industry.

In 1497, Giunti publishers and typographers in Florence, together with others in Venice, began modern book manufacturing. Over the years Giunti has built a 'historical catalogue' of huge dimensions, through a gradual process of 'fusion' of different publishers, but also through the creation of new brands, including Giunti Labs. Giunti Editore now includes 20 companies in the publishing sector.

Giunti Labs, which has its global headquarters in Italy and offices in London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden) and in Boston (US), provides a wide range of services, in response to any content, learning and knowledge management need, covering:

• Content production

• Research and development

• Technological solutions for content, learning & knowledge management

• Architectural and technological solutions for mobile & wireless

• Training and consulting

Giunti Labs provides the learn eXact® suite, Europe's leading e-learning and mobile learning content management technology. This suite is interoperable with all major vendor-driven and open source LMS and VLE solutions in the market including Plateau, Oracle, SumTotal, Saba, WebCT, Blackboard, Sakai, LRN and Moodle.

Moreover, Giunti Labs does not just adhere to the international standards relating to the LMS/LCMS world, it is one of the organisations that helps to determine and drive these standards: co-writing and developing them. Giunti Labs plays a key role in most of the international institutions for the definition of eLearning specifications (IEEE LTSC, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36, CEN/ISSS WSLT, AICC, IMS, ADL-SCORM and OKI).

Further information from:

Minna Leikas, Giunti Labs, +39 3489 399127
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405