New Management Team Announced at HumanWare

The Board of Directors at HumanWare today announced their plans for the management of HumanWare Group, following the tragic death last week of our CEO, Dr. Russell Smith.

Gilles Pepin, who was president of VisuAide at the time of the merger with Pulse Data International, and who is now president of HumanWare Canada, has been appointed Acting Chief Executive Officer. This appointment is expected to last up to 6 months, during which time the Board, working with a specialist executive recruitment agency, aims to appoint a new CEO.

Gilles, an existing member of the group board, will continue to be based in Montreal, Canada, but will travel to New Zealand as required to meet and work with senior management.

Greg Thompson, currently International Sales & Marketing Manager, has been appointed Acting General Manager of HumanWare New Zealand, and will be responsible for all aspects of the New Zealand operation. Greg’s role will include continued responsibility for international sales and marketing.

The Chairman of HumanWare, Tim Robinson, said “Russell’s death is a great loss to our company, but Russell built a very strong management team and we have great confidence that Gilles and Greg, and their teams, will provide the leadership necessary to achieve further success and growth for HumanWare.”

“The next 12 months is expected to be a very exciting time for the company,” said Tim Robinson, “with a number of new products being released into the market, new strategic partnerships taking effect, and our move to new, purpose designed, premises in Christchurch at the end of August.”

Gilles Pepin said, “Every member of our company, worldwide, is determined to carry on Russell’s great work, and make him proud of us. HumanWare is an amazing company with a wealth of very talented staff, and we will continue to be the most successful and most innovative company in our industry.”

These management changes take place immediately.

About Gilles Pepin

Gilles lives in Drummondville, Quebec, and has a very strong engineering and commercial background. He has extensive experience in telecommunications and digital speech analysis, and after graduating he undertook research work in the field of digital telephony.

In 1988 Gilles established VisuAide, a Canadian company dedicated to research, development, and marketing of high technology products for people with visual impairment.

VisuAide became the world leader in digital talking book solutions for the blind and visually impaired, and in January 2005, merged with Pulse Data International to form HumanWare. As part of the merger, Gilles became a shareholder in HumanWare, and a member of the board of directors.

Gilles has worked very closely with blindness organisations throughout the world, and for several years was a member of the technology committee of the World Blind Union.

About Greg Thompson

Greg is Christchurch born, and has spent nearly 30 years working with technology companies, including 20 years in the IT field.
He joined Pulse Data International in February 2001 as Business Development Manager, and soon had his role expanded to include all aspects of international sales and marketing, including product management and corporate promotion.

Prior to joining Pulse Data, Greg was Marketing Manager at Tait Electronics, and he also spent 9 years with Cardinal Network (now Jade), including 2 years as General Manager of the UK operation.

From September 2003 he spent 9 months as acting president of HumanWare’s North American operation, and he is currently a member of the board of directors of HumanWare’s wholly-owned subsidiaries in Australia, United States, Canada, and Europe.

Greg has extensive international business experience, having spent many years working in the North American, European, and Asian marketplaces, and is a member of the executive committee of Export New Zealand.

About HumanWare

Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, HumanWare designs and manufactures innovative technology for people who are blind and visually impaired. Formed in 1988, and formerly known as Pulse Data International, HumanWare exports approximately 98% of its products worldwide to more than 30 countries, and has revenues of approximately NZ$70 million.

In January 2005, Pulse Data and VisuAide of Canada merged to form HumanWare, one of the world’s largest companies in the blindness and low vision industries.

Sales offices have been established in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand and the company supports a strong distribution network throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Additional Information

For further information about HumanWare, please visit our website at www.humanware.com or contact:

Greg Thompson
cell: +64 (021) 528-003
greg.thompson@humanware.com