(Ottawa, ON - December 15, 2000) - AMITA Corporation of Ottawa announced today that it is the first company in North America to be certified to the new ISO 9001:2000 quality management standard. The Canada General Standards Board (CGSB) performed the ISO 9001:2000 assessment on AMITA and will present the certificate later today. The ISO 9000 series of international standards for quality management is among the most widely known and successful of the 13,000 standards published by International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO has become the most recognized international reference for quality requirements in business to business dealings. In 1996, AMITA became one of the first Canadian information technology companies to achieve ISO 9001 registration. As Monica Preston president of AMITA explains "In the fall of 1999, the decision was made to continue AMITA's quality leadership position in the IT industry by becoming an early adopter of the anticipated ISO 9001:2000 standard. We wanted to demonstrate our commitment to the ISO quality management standard by becoming the first company in North America to be tested and certified to this standard." Bob Chiarelli, Regional Chair, Region of Ottawa-Carleton comments "I think it is fitting that an Ottawa company is the first company in North America to receive this certification. This is a great indication of the business community's initiative and commitment to quality." The new ISO standard will raise the bar for quality processes within organizations. As Mr. Chris FitzGibbon quality system consultant with Orion Canada Inc. elaborates "All ISO 9000 certified companies will have three years to upgrade to the new standard or forego their certification. Unfortunately, there will be some companies that will not make the cut." AMITA Corporation is a privately held software development, products and support company focused on the government, life sciences and travel sectors. AMITA provides end-to-end experience in web-portal database applications, case management, and citizen-to-government solutions. AMITA's custom developed solutions incorporate broad accessibility via the Internet to improve customer service and to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness, cornerstones to electronic service delivery. AMITA is a Microsoft Solutions Provider and Oracle Solutions partner that challenges its employees to apply their bright minds to make IT valuable to the real world.