A seminar given by Arthur Weiss of AWARE as a satellite event of the Online Information '97 conference and exhibition attracted over 100 people. Attendees came from 16 countries - including South Africa, Turkey and Scandinavia. The seminar looked at how the Internet can be used as a source for gathering information on organizations' competitors.

The high attendance shows that the Internet is now perceived as a crucial resource when companies collect information on competitors for use in their business planning. Although competitor intelligence professionals have always used online databases in their research, the Internet has given them a large number of new information sources that were previously difficult or costly to obtain.

Arthur Weiss, AWARE's managing partner commented that competitive intelligence professionals are sometimes seen as industrial spies. The attendance shows that today's intelligence professionals do not need to operate in a cloak and dagger style. Sources such as those found on the Internet provide much of the information needed to build a complete competitive picture.

AWARE is a UK based management consultancy specialising in competitive intelligence and marketing analysis services. AWARE has particular expertise in the UK and European markets with extensive experience in the information industry. The company, founded in 1995, is based in Greenford, West London. Clients include multi-nationals as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

The Online Information conference and exhibition held at Olympia is the largest global exhibition serving the online information industry. The conference, now in its 21st year, is organised by Learned Information (part of the VNU group). Learned Information organise a number of pre-conference and post-conference events - including the AWARE seminar.