Maryland and Mississippi the First Two States to Use OnTarget Online Technology Evaluation System to Track and Allocate Technology Resources/ Dollars in Public Schools;

All State, County, District and School Data Is Available to the General Public at http://www.aws.com/ontarget

Gaithersburg, MD - April 30, 2002 - The State of Maryland and The State of Mississippi are leading the charge to reduce the Digital Divide in their public schools through a new online program called OnTarget. The Web-based program, unveiled today by AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc., helps state governments track how technology is used by students and teachers at the county, district and individual school level. OnTarget provides valuable data that states can use to allocate and manage funds earmarked for technology. AWS is pioneer in developing engaging, Web-based weather educational tools for schools and colleges.

OnTarget provides analysis and comparisons between schools and districts within the state as well as providing a clear understanding of how the current technology infrastructure compares with state's objectives. School administrators are required by participating states to log on to a password protected web site and enter data relevant to their individual school. Once entered, all data and analyses are available to administrators, legislators and the general public to view at http://www.aws.com/ontarget. The OnTarget site now has current data for the State of Maryland. Information from the State of Mississippi will be live on the site early next month with more states to follow as they sign on to the OnTarget program.

"Until now local officials, teachers, parents, students had no real efficient way to track how the dollars their state is allocating towards technology use in their schools are being invested or the divide that may exist between different districts or counties. The goal behind this program is to create this single resource so that anyone really see just how wide or narrow the technology adoption gap is," said Bob Marshall, CEO of AWS Convergence Technologies.

OnTarget is designed to collect, analyze and interpret data that includes: technology infrastructure, teacher technology knowledge/skills, support needs, student & teacher use of technology, as well as analyzed data on the Digital Divide in each state and funding & resource allocation.

"The Mississippi Online Technology Evaluation is being used to measure the past and inform the future. It is providing us with valuable, realtime data regarding the progress we have made in the implementation and use of technology in Mississippi schools as well as being used as a baseline for establishing our goals and benchmarks for our new state technology plan," said Helen Soule, Director of Educational Technology, Training & Support for the State of Mississippi.

"The Mississippi Online Technology Evaluation, which was developed and implemented in partnership with AWS, has been one of the most easily managed projects that I have experienced," Soule added.

For more information on the OnTarget program, including contact information, visit http://www.aws.com/ontarget.

About AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc.

AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. (www.aws.com) owns and operates the largest network of weather stations in the world. This real-time network gathers comprehensive, up-to-the-second weather information from more than 5,000 communities and powers the company's various products and services, including: WeatherBug(tm), an online weather service that provides live neighborhood conditions to more than nine million PC users; WeatherNet for Broadcast, which delivers real-time weather information to more than 80 million US households through partnerships with 105 local television stations; WeatherNet for Education, which provides engaging weather information and educational tools to schools and colleges, including an innovative set of online lesson plans and software called WeatherNet Classroom; and AWS Data Services which uses AWS' unique weather network and software to provide high-value solutions for vertical industries such as energy, retail, and transportation.