Technology Helps City Increase Housing Inspections for Homeless by More Than Half, and Lease Signings by One Quarter

Technology Helps City Increase Housing Inspections for Homeless by More Than
Half, and Lease Signings by One Quarter
New York City Department of Homeless Services and IBM partner to develop
mobile handheld devices that benefit New Yorkers in need

NEW YORK, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York City Department of
Homeless Services (DHS), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Global Bay Mobile Technologies
today announced that the deployment of mobile handheld devices has led to an
increase in the number of permanent housing inspections DHS conducts every
month by 57 percent. Since the implementation of the handheld devices, DHS
has improved its ability to transition homeless families and individuals into
permanent housing. In turn, the number of leases signed through DHS' rental
assistance program, Advantage New York, has increased, up 25 percent to date
over the same time period last year.

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"We want to help people in shelter return to a life of self-sufficiency and
independence as quickly as possible," said Robert V. Hess, Commissioner of the
New York City Department of Homeless Services. "Working with IBM and Global
Bay, we developed a solution that takes significant strides toward that
objective. The handheld device is the result of innovative and forward
thinking, and is an example of good government."

The technology works by eliminating the cumbersome paper-based process that
checked the availability of apartments for homeless clients. Previously,
field inspectors filled out paper forms both in the field and the office
before returning the paperwork to the office for others to key in to a
database at a later time, a multi-step process which could take up to several
days. Using a mobile handheld electronic device in the field, DHS field
inspectors now share real time data about the status of potential permanent
residences with DHS staff, provider shelter staff, clients, landlords and
brokers in a rapid manner. Inspectors easily can answer a standardized
checklist of questions, sketch a basic layout of the apartment, take a
photograph or video of the space that serves as documentation of the original
condition and take guided steps to comply with federal Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) standards. The inspectors are able to collect data and send
it to the DHS database from the field in less than an hour, reporting on the
inspections and communicating needed repairs to landlords. More efficient
inspections lead to more available apartments for clients, thus increasing
placements. These benefits increase DHS accountability and transparency.

"DoITT has pioneered the development of citywide contracts, enabling the City
to leverage its considerable size and purchasing power to ensure significant
cost savings for IT goods and services," said DoITT Commissioner Paul J.
Cosgrave. "We're pleased that these efforts help improve DHS' ability to
assist homeless families and improve the efficiency of its field operations."

The handheld devices have been in use since April 2008. The $1 million
invested to develop them will be recouped by November 2009, because of the
faster inspection process, reduction in paper and ability of field
investigators to receive their daily schedules through laptop computers
instead of having to come into DHS' main office.

As a contractor with the New York City Department of Information Technology
and Telecommunications (DoITT) Handheld Technology Solutions Parent Contract,
IBM worked with business partners including Global Bay, to address the
challenge of homelessness in New York City. Using Global Bay's GBmobile
platform, DHS was able to replace the existing paper process for identifying
permanent residences for people experiencing homelessness with the mobile
communications system.

"Our vast experience providing breakthrough mobility solutions to the public
sector enabled us to rapidly help DHS make important improvements in services
to New Yorkers in need and move beyond a paper-based organization into a new
era," said Jan Jackman, vice president of Global End User Services at IBM.
"IBM is proud to partner with New York City to help speed the process for
helping homeless families and individuals move into safe, permanent housing."

"We needed to get apartments inspected and approved more efficiently," said
Ken Zima, Chief Information Officer of DHS. "Knowing there were families in
shelter who were so close to getting back to the community made our mobility
needs a critical mission."

The DHS Advantage New York program provides rental assistance to homeless
families and individuals to help them return to permanent housing. Since
Advantage New York began in April 2007, more than 13,500 leases have been
signed by people exiting shelters and returning to permanent housing.

About DHS
For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/dhs.

About IBM
For more information, visit www.ibm.com/services.

About Global Bay Mobile
For more information, visit www.globalbay.com/public-sector.html.

CONTACT: Reilly Starr
646-526-5112
starrr@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM Corporation

Reilly Starr, +1-646-526-5112, starrr@us.ibm.com