Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), a developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, has announced that the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has begun deploying FAST Data Search to power the search capabilities of its Internet and intranet sites. The National Statistics Web site collects information and statistics on Britain's economy, population, and society at national and local level. This information ranges from agriculture and industry to crime, education, population, tourism, and healthcare. Such data is valuable to political leaders, government planners, business leaders, and journalists, who require accurate information about national and local trends in order to support their business decisions.

The FAST enterprise search platform (FAST ESP) offers a combination of real-time search technology, business search management tools, and information analysis capabilities. Built on FAST ESP, the FAST Data Search suite of enterprise search solutions is designed to enable companies and organizations to develop information transparency and utilization across organizational units and geographical areas. The FAST Data Search product suite supplies an information retrieval solution tailored for vertical markets and applications including ecommerce and Internet portals, financial services; government; life sciences; media and publishing; and telecom.

(http://www.fastsearch.com), (http://www.statistics.gov.uk)