8 Worldwide Winners Announced in IDUG`s Search for "the XML Superstar"

-IDUG, the International DB2 Users Group, judges more than 70,000 entries from
25 nations before awarding top prize in its worldwide search for XML
`superstars" to developer Renzo Nuccitelli of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil

-Other top prize winners hail from Georgia (USA), Ontario (Canada), India, Japan
and Indonesia.

-Global contest encourages students, faculty and developers to showcase their
skills with XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and its related DB2 technologies.

CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
IDUG, the International DB2 Users Group, today announced seven 2008 winners of
its global competition, "The Search for the XML Superstar" which awards and
recognizes outstanding talent among current or future software developers.

Renzo Nuccitelli of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, captured first place in the
global "XML Programming" competition for the top-scoring entry among the
eligible applications.

Top developer and winner of a Lenovo laptop computer in the "Ported Application"
segment of the global competition was Anil Mahadev, Karnataka, India.

Yasuhiro Nonaka, Tokyo, Japan, winner of the "Query Challenge" contest, was
awarded an iPod Touch. Dual winners of the 2008 "Gadget Challenge" competition
were Ontario, Canada`s Zaidan Alaoui and Maharashtra, India`s Vibha Pandya. Both
will be awarded Zune MP3 players.

Rahsheen Porter, Grayson, Geo. (USA) and his video entry and Rendra Setiawan,
Jakarta, Indonesia, were winners of the "Video Mania" contest and will receive
Apple iPod Nano players.

"The Search for the XML Superstar" covered North America, Europe, China,
Southeast Asia and India and sought to locate, recognize and award top XML
developer talent. The more than 70,000 who competed last year included
university students, faculty and professional developers, regardless of their
individual skill and experience levels with XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and
its related database technologies.

"IDUG was impressed with the outstanding work we saw emerging from bright
individuals such as Renzo and our other seven global winners," says Julian
Stuhler, president of IDUG and also principal consultant, Triton Consulting,
Norfolk, United Kingdom.

"The worlds of business, government, health care and academia are already
benefiting from their exceptional XML developer talents."

The XML superstar contest was open to those with all levels of XML and database
management experience. For those with no prior knowledge, "The Search for the
XML Superstar" provided an opportunity to learn about these important
technologies.

Numerous workshops, events and ceremonies held regionally are recognizing
contributions of winners, Stuhler added. He noted 2008`s competitors benefited
by joining contest groups formed at Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Orkut.

The contest was spearheaded by IDUG, an independent, user-run organization of
data management professionals who use DB2 and related technology. IDUG's mission
is to support the information services community by providing education and
services to utilize IBM's DB2 family of products.

David Reiners of Tech Image
(888) 483-2477 ext. 233 (office)
224.612.0167 (cellular)

Copyright Business Wire 2009