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.
