WASHINGTON, DC - September 16, 2002 - Bantu, Inc., the leading provider of encrypted, web based instant messaging and presence solutions, announced today that it has been selected by the United States Navy and its prime contractor, Appian of Vienna, Va., in the award of the U.S. Navy’s Knowledge Management Portal contract. Bantu’s Instant Messaging and Presence platform will facilitate training and collaboration for the Navy’s Task Force EXCEL program by providing secure real-time communication for Navy personnel using the portal.

The Portal, known as Navy Knowledge Online (NKO), is a mission critical tool in the Navy’s effort to revolutionize training for sailors and improve the Navy’s war fighting capabilities. The NKO is designed to provide a single personalized gateway to the Navy’s knowledge base for all active service personnel, Reserve Navy, DoD Civilian, Retired Navy and Retired Reserve Navy. As part of this effort, Bantu is embedded in the NKO to enable sailors, marines, reservists, retired navy and civilians to more rapidly communicate and share knowledge - knowledge that can’t be delivered by curriculum alone. An integral component of NKO, Bantu will make it easier for users to work with and learn from one another.

Bantu integrates IM and presence (the ability to see who’s online) seamlessly into the NKO and into any other application that users may access via the portal, including the personnel directory, eLearning tools, etc. With integrated presence and availability information users are able to more quickly locate, interact and exchange vital information with their colleagues. With Bantu integrated into the NKO, a sailor at sea with a complex electronics repair project searching the portal for the engineers at the design facility on shore can then see their on-line availability and immediately communicate with them to obtain critical repair information. Presence based messaging allows users of the portal to establish new relationships and maintain existing relationships with users from throughout the entire Navy community.

“Encrypted instant communication is a required tool for the Navy portal so that sailors, trainers and mentors will be able to instantly collaborate on projects,” said Rear Adm. Kevin Moran, Director, Task Force EXCEL. “This system works for Army Knowledge Online Portal (AKO) and it will work for the Navy.”

Bantu was joined with other leading providers, including Acuent, Art Technology Group, Oracle Corporation, Sun Microsystems, Veritas Software and Verity, Inc. to provide the Navy with a highly scalable, interactive portal platform. Bantu, working with Appian, was previously selected to provide technology for the AKO Portal. Using a consistent portal and messaging infrastructure on both portals will provide the opportunity to communicate and collaborate across services in the future.

“After working closely with Bantu on the AKO Portal, we knew that they were the right solution for NKO,” said Appian President and CEO Matt Calkins. “Bantu’s IM and Presence tools are a tremendous and essential component for an enterprise portal of this complexity. The implementation and integration effort was simple and fast, allowing the Navy and pertinent parts of the portal to get up and running quickly and cost effectively.”

“The Navy, like our growing list of other defense and government agency customers, recognized that instant messaging and presence are powerful tools to increase operational productivity and improve information exchange throughout the Navy community,” said Larry Schlang, CEO, Bantu, Inc. “By integrating Bantu into their portal and other applications, our government customers are able to extend and augment the value of their existing technology investments while also addressing rigorous security and scalability requirements. Integrating Bantu results in enterprise wide productivity gains and more effective use of the enterprise’s resources.”

About Bantu, Inc.: Washington, D.C.-based leader in secure,business-grade Instant Messaging and Presence solutions. The Bantu IM & Presence Platform enhances communication and collaboration in industries such as financial services, telecommunications, government and education. Bantu is secure, platform-independent, interoperable, and it easily integrates into any application or service. Bantu's customers and partners include Blackboard, Citrix, The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, SAIC, Sprint and the U.S. Army. (www.bantu.com)