Ljubljana, SLOVENIA, 12 September 1993

GroupSystems, electronic meeting support software is currently being utilized to help build the country of Slovenia. Formerly a part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia is facing the challenge of piecing together the essential elements of government, communication, banking, education, and a postal system. And that's just the beginning.

The enormity of the building process has been accelerated with the help of GroupSystems. Using a PC local area network, the software provides a computer-supported collaborative environment by supporting five key areas— idea generation, idea organization, evaluation of alternatives, consensus building, and decision making.

Since it was inaugurated in March, 1992 by the President of Slovenia, Milan Kucan, the SRC GroupSystems facility has been used to tackle major issues of building a country with speed and efficiency.  Over the past year, groups have ranged in size from five to 65 with the average size rising over the course of the year.

A project initiated by The Ministry of Tourism to define the strategy for the long-term tourism development of Slovenia was to take three months. With the help of GroupSystems results were achieved in just six weeks.  Participants particularly praised the ability of the system to assist in strategic planning and fast decision making, and the overwhelming majority felt that GroupSystems was “helping to re-define Slovenia as a young country.”

Ventana Corporation is a spin-off of The University of Arizona's Department of Management Information Systems.  In addition to a wide range of commercial companies that use GroupSystems, Ventana Corporation has developed contractual agreements with academic institutions to allow for the utilization of GroupSystems for academic research.  GroupSystems software is currently used in over 100 commercial companies and 80 academic sites worldwide.

Most favored nation trading status has been granted to Slovenia by the U.S. and a consulate has been established in the capital city of Ljubljana.  Slovenia has been accepted as a new member of the United Nations and is now recognized by all major countries.

With the help of Ventana Corporation's GroupSystems, Slovenia faces the future with hope and enthusiasm, looking ahead to developing both business and international relations with the rest of the world.