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Empresas y finanzas

Blackboard signs Nation-wide Agreement in The Netherlands


    Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB), a leading provider of enterprise
    technology to the education community, today announces that Blackboard
    has signed a major three year nation-wide e-Learning expansion
    agreement with SURFdiensten and SLBdiensten in The Netherlands.
    SURFdiensten facilitates the use of ICT in higher education and
    research, while SLBdiensten provides licenses for vocational, adult
    education, and secondary education. Over a million students in The
    Netherlands and Belgium currently access Blackboard´s software.

    The existing agreement originally dates from 1999 and allows
    higher, vocational and secondary education institutions in The
    Netherlands and Belgium access to the Blackboard Learning System(TM)
    and Blackboard Community System(TM). The new contract extends the
    current agreement into 2010 and allows continuity for enterprise
    e-Learning software in The Netherlands and Belgium. It shows mutual
    commitment between Blackboard, SURFdiensten and SLBdiensten for this
    market.

    The new contract offers education institutes the option to take
    advantage of new Blackboard web services, including the SafeAssign(TM)
    plagiarism detection and deterrence services and Scholar(R) social
    bookmarking services. SafeAssign empowers academics and students to
    protect the originality of work, as well as creating an opportunity to
    educate students on the importance of proper attribution and citation.
    Scholar provides an innovative way for users to connect with
    researchers studying similar topics at institutions around the world,
    allowing professors, students, and other academics to store and share
    online bookmarks related to their areas of study and interest.

    Jan Bakker, Managing Director of SURFdiensten, said, "Signing this
    contract with Blackboard is key for the huge installed base of
    Blackboard users in Dutch and Belgian higher education. We expect the
    solutions that Blackboard offers will satisfy not only our existing
    needs, but also the future demands of students and faculty of our
    member institutions."

    Charles Stork, Director of SLBdiensten, said, "We are very pleased
    with this renewal. This gives existing Blackboard users in vocational
    and secondary education in The Netherlands the opportunity to use
    Blackboard for three more years. We believe Blackboard will provide
    our member institutions a high-quality learning environment."

    "We are delighted that we have expanded our agreement with
    SURFdiensten and SLBdiensten," says Michael Chasen, President and CEO
    of Blackboard. "Since our inception, our clients and partners in The
    Netherlands and Belgium have been valuable contributors to our product
    and corporate strategies. With this expanded relationship, we expect
    to work even more closely with education leaders in The Netherlands
    and Belgium."

    About SURF and SURFdiensten

    SURF is the collaborative organisation for higher education and
    research institutes in The Netherlands, aimed at breakthrough
    innovations in ICT. SURF Foundation was founded in 1987 by the joint
    universities. At present SURF represents over sixty institutions and
    is active in many international collaborative platforms such as JISC,
    TERENA and GLIF. SURFdiensten is the organisation for licenses for
    higher education and research that facilitates the use of ICT,
    offering software, content, ICT services and hardware at unique prices
    and conditions.

    About SLB Diensten

    Founded in 1992, SLBdiensten is intermediary between vocational,
    adult, and secondary education institutions and software, courseware &
    hardware suppliers. SLBdiensten´s good negotiating position and broad
    product assortment have made SLBdiensten the leading supplier for
    vocational, adult, and secondary education institutions.

    About Blackboard Inc.

    Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a leading provider of enterprise
    software applications and related services to the education industry.
    Founded in 1997, Blackboard enables educational innovations everywhere
    by connecting people and technology. Millions of people use Blackboard
    everyday at academic institutions around the globe, including
    colleges, universities, K-12 schools and other education providers, as
    well as textbook publishers and student-focused merchants that serve
    education providers and their students. Blackboard is headquartered in
    Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Australia and
    Asia.

    Blackboard

    Educate. Innovate. Everywhere.(TM)

    Any statements in this press release about future expectations,
    plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the
    words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and
    similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the
    meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
    Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such
    forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors,
    including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of
    our Form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2007 with the SEC. In addition, the
    forward-looking statements included in this press release represent
    the Company´s views as of December 17, 2007. The Company anticipates
    that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company´s views
    to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these
    forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company
    specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking
    statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company´s
    views as of any date subsequent to December 17, 2007.