MUMBAI, September 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Simulator Created for ICICI Bank Amongst the Finalists in the Best Learning Game, Simulation or Virtual Environment Category

Tata Interactive Systems' (TIS - http://www.tatainteractive.com) Bank Simulator created for a leading Indian bank, ICICI (http://www.icicibank.com) has been short-listed for the grand finale of the prestigious E-learning Awards 2008, organized by the E-learning Age ( http://www.elearningage.co.uk/awards.aspx).

The E-learning Awards seek to identify proven implementations of technology leading to a known and measurable learning outcome against established objectives. The award recognizes innovative uses of technology, as well as the extent to which this brings about greater engagement, enjoyment, and motivation than more traditional approaches. TIS submitted the ICICI Bank Simulator in the Best Learning Game, Simulation or Virtual Environment category.

The Bank Simulator was developed for the newly hired customer service officers (CSO) handling ICICI Bank's retail branch operations. Prior to the simulation, experienced team members mentored the new hires and exposed them to general customer service practices at ICICI and to the core banking software steps they needed to follow for specific processes. However, during this on-the-job training period, ICICI incurred heavy costs on account of the time the experienced employees spent mentoring and due to the errors that new hires made.

According to Rupesh Goel - Practice Head, Simulations, TIS, "The Bank Simulator was developed with a deep involvement from ICICI. It has extensive knowledge capture of both technology and process areas and an interesting format to make the user feel engaged. ICICI Bank tells us that it has reduced the new hires' time to competence by 50 percent. This innovative simulation maps to the financial system of ICICI Bank and allows the integration of the system, customer, and CSM interaction, and also document scrutiny within the same learning environment. The simulator's open nature permits the learners to attempt activities in random order while a tracker intelligently marks their progress and gives in-time feedback."

ICICI Bank had premiered the solution in a classroom setting at training events across India and the learner and instructor feedback indicates a very high level of engagement and competitive spirit.

(c) 2008 Tata Interactive Systems

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About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), a global leader in e-learning, is a part of the $70bn Tata Group. Truly international, TIS has a presence across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, India, and mainland Europe. TIS offers corporations, universities, schools, publishers and government institutions a diversified and innovative bouquet of learning and training solutions including Simulation-based Learning Objects (SimBLs(R)), Story-based Learning Objects (StoBLs), courseware and curriculum design, special-needs education, assessments, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), mobile learning, game-based learning along with other corporate training and consultancy services. Our multi-disciplinary expertise and 18 years' experience across domains help us design e-learning programs that are unique to clients' requirements and specifically crafted to boost knowledge retention and application.

TIS is the only e-learning organization in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. TIS's quest for excellence is reflected in numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Performance Centered Design Award, an ASTD Award, IT Training Awards, Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards, APEX Awards of Excellence, BETT Awards, and Business World-NID Design Excellence awards.

For more information log on to http://www.tatainteractive.com

Further information from: Rupesh Goel (rupesh@tatainteractive.com) Sonal Chhaya (sonal_c@tatainteractive.com) Tata Interactive Systems Tel/Fax: +91-22-6643-8000 4th Floor Leela Business Park, Andheri East, Mumbai 400 059, INDIA

Further information from:, Rupesh Goel (rupesh@tatainteractive.com), Sonal Chhaya (sonal_c@tatainteractive.com); Tata Interactive Systems, Tel/Fax: +91-22-6643-8000, 4th Floor Leela Business Park, Andheri East, Mumbai 400 059, INDIA