CSIRO spins off home-grown search engine

The CSIRO ICT Centre announced today the spinoff of its Panoptic enterprise search technology to form a new company, dubbed Funnelback Pty Ltd.

Funnelback can be used to search for information contained in Web sites, intranets, file-shares, and databases. As reported previously by Computerworld, the Panoptic search technology is already used by Web sites of major Australian organizations including the Australian Government Information Management Office, Westpac, the Australian Stock Exchange, the ABCorporation, and the University of Sydney.

Funnelback chairman Dr Stephen Kirby said the technology is a better search engine, because of its "superior ability to help users find the information they are looking for quickly and accurately".

CSIRO ICT Centre director Dr Alex Zelinsky, said the formation of Funnelback Pty Ltd demonstrates Australia's ability to develop leading-edge information and communication technologies and then to successfully bring them to market.

"Our success has always been driven by the development of new and innovative ways to solve our customers' problems," Zelinsky said. "Funnelback will continue in the same spirit, growing rapidly by exceeding its customers' needs."

CSIRO chief executive, Dr Geoff Garrett said CSIRO will create maximum impact for its research with the technology in a company structure with "good governance and management".

"It's also an example of successful commercialization built on great science - which is what CSIRO's rejuvenation of its ICT research is all about," he said.

Funnelback will be based in Canberra and led by former CSIRO senior manager of commercialization Stuart Beil. Dr David Hawking, a pioneer of Panoptic at the CSIRO ICT Centre, will be the company's chief scientist.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.
Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the Good Gear Guide newsletter.
Computerworld Staff

Computerworld Staff

Computerworld
Show Comments

Most Popular Reviews

Latest Articles

Resources

PCW Evaluation Team

Cate Bacon

Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.

Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti

Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.

Tom Pope

Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.

Tom Sellers

MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.

Lolita Wang

MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.

Featured Content

Product Launch Showcase

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?