Sirti Leads Businesses Out Of Computer Maze New Division Will Help Transfer Information From Paper To Disks

Spokane’s Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute has added a new division to help area firms make sense of the digital information jungle.

The new operation, the Digital Media Services Laboratory, will help new businesses and established companies transfer information now on paper to either compact or floppy disks.

One of its first efforts is to help the Washington Water Power Co. create CDROMs so that field workers can travel with computers and have access to large volumes of information while on the road.

SIRTI, funded by the Legislature, is a cooperative research center operated by the region’s private and public colleges and universities.

While digital technology is not new, the number of different computer systems involved and types of storage are numerous and complicated, said Steve Simmons, an Eastern Washington University computer science professor.

“I believe the lab can help by piloting people through the jungle of this emerging technology and the different standards that most companies don’t want to tackle.”

As digital technology becomes more widely available, companies around the region will use the technology to cut costs, improve efficiency and develop better products.

Banks and service companies can update training manuals, guides and other documents easily through electronic storage.

Engineering firms can obtain job data

quickly and then add changes to projects without becoming swamped in documents, said Dann Elias, president of Info Tech. That Spokane firm will help develop the SIRTI Digital Media Services Lab.

“It’s not really a question of whether or not companies here will use the technology,” Elias said. “They’ll have no choice; they will use them, to compete.”

In addition to helping existing companies, the lab will help new firms get a toehold in the emerging technology, said SIRTI’s acting director, Lyle Anderson.

Start-up companies could get help from the lab in developing multimedia software. They also could get help in developing computer kiosks that give customers quick information with the press of finger on a screen.

“We expect this industry to grow significantly around the region,” said Anderson. “And we play the role of catalyst to help some of those businesses get off the ground,” he said.

Start-up costs for the digital laboratory include about $80,000 to buy new equipment needed for digital document production, CD-ROMs and other services.

That money will come from a $15 million Defense Department grant SIRTI received in 1993.