The Italian Stock Exchange Selects BackWeb to Deliver Critical Information

ProactivePortal Technology Communicates Time-Sensitive, Critical Information to Multiple Users Simultaneously

San Jose, Calif. - August 12, 2002 - BackWeb Technologies (Nasdaq: BWEB), the leading provider of ProactivePortal™ technologies for the enterprise, today announced that Borsa Italiana, the Italian Stock Exchange, has selected BackWeb® ProactivePortal technology in order to comply with government guidelines of delivering critical information about publicly listed companies to press agencies as soon as the content is available.

BIt Systems, a subsidiary of Borsa Italiana, needed to implement a reliable communications system that could deliver time-sensitive, critical information to satisfy the Italian non-selective disclosure rules: the information must be authentic, accessible by all and immediately transmitted as soon as it is available. ProactivePortal technology allows Borsa Italiana to meet these requirements. Additionally, with the BackWeb closed-loop reporting system, Borsa Italiana can track whether or not the recipient has interacted with the information.

"Managing effective communications with the various Issuers and Press Agencies is a main subject of our job" said Andrea Giochetta, CEO of BIt Systems, the IT company of Borsa Italiana Group. "BackWeb's technology could provide us with the tools necessary to guarantee that our critical information is being delivered immediately to those who have to be informed. The fax system was an ineffective method to guarantee interaction. With BackWeb's content delivery system and comprehensive reporting capabilities, we now have the capability to know when information is received and accessed, two critical components of our communications strategy."

"Borsa Italiana's requirements illustrate the growing need throughout the business world for a system that offers reliable communications capabilities," said Eli Barkat, CEO and president of BackWeb Technologies. "More and more companies are realizing that a key component of their success is the ability to guarantee that must-have content reaches the right person at the right time so they can act on it immediately. BackWeb technology offers essential offline access and closed-loop reporting technologies in one modular solution to deliver that key success component."