ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 27 -- Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it has formed a business called Kodak Global Imaging (KGI), which will offer information derived from earth images to commercial customers such as telecommunications firms and insurance companies for faster, more effective decision-making. KGI will be a division of Kodak's Commercial & Government Systems unit. To support this new business initiative, Kodak also announced today the acquisition of the earth image processing, GIS and mapping businesses of Groupe Hauts-Monts Inc., a privately held provider of earth imagery products and related services. Headquartered in Beauport, Quebec, Canada, Groupe Hauts-Monts is a leader in remote sensing imagery services, supplying GIS services, as well as mapping products and services including image scanning, ortho-rectifying, and automated image storage to business customers worldwide. Excluded from the acquisition is Group Hauts-Monts' aerial image capture business, which it will continue to own and operate. The acquisition will extend Kodak's participation in the market for information extracted from earth imagery. According to the research firm Frost & Sullivan, this market is growing 10 percent annually and will reach $6.5 billion by 2005. By combining imagery of the earth with Kodak's proprietary analysis and visualization software and tools, KGI will have the ability to provide information to enable telecommunications companies to more effectively position cell towers and to help insurance companies assess natural disasters. The technology also applies to such industries as real estate, natural resources exploration, fiber optics, architecture and Internet information providers. By using this Kodak technology, companies will be able to generate more revenue and expand markets at a lower cost than they incur today. "Kodak is using its heritage as a leading provider of remote sensing products and services to go further into the image information business," said Carl Marchetto, President of Commercial & Government Systems and a senior vice president of the corporation. "By combining the power of images with information technology, we will allow customers to gather more information more quickly, make decisions faster, reduce costs and boost revenue." As an example of the KGI business, Marchetto cited Kodak's ability to blend an image with proprietary software and tools to render a three-dimensional image of a city to aid in the routing of emergency vehicles or in the placement of cellular communication equipment. Information on KGI products and services can be found on line at http://www.kodak.com/go/earthimaging. Kodak's C&GS unit will demonstrate the capabilities of KGI and its entire range of products and services at the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 9-12. "In this example, Kodak technology will help telecommunications companies reduce their equipment placement cost while helping to ensure the best coverage in populated geographies," Marchetto said. "The power of combining images and the appropriate information will help business customers make better buying and investment decisions regarding their properties on a global basis."