Students Will Benefit from Campus-Wide Deployment of Blackboard Academic Suite(TM)

QUEENSLAND, Australia, Oct 27, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) announced today at its annual Asia Pacific Users Conference that it has signed an agreement with the City University of Hong Kong to provide the Blackboard Academic Suite(TM), hosted by Blackboard(R) ASP and Blackboard(R) Professional Services. This new venture will assist the City University of Hong Kong in meeting the e-education needs of its 18,000 full- and part-time students across the main campus.

Taking place today and tomorrow at the ICT Learning Innovation Centre in Queensland, Australia, Blackboard's Asia Pacific Users Conference brings together the City University of Hong Kong and more than 125 other Blackboard clients and partners from across Asia and Australia. Titled "Innovating Together", the conference provides a forum for learning institutions to share best practices in online education, learn about product innovations and hear more about Blackboard's vision of a Networked Learning Environment(TM).

By adopting a single e-learning platform, City University of Hong Kong will make a university-wide deployment of the Blackboard Academic Suite, an integrated family of enterprise-grade software applications that support teaching, learning and campus life. The Blackboard Academic Suite includes three leading e-education software solutions: the Blackboard Learning System(TM), the Blackboard Community System(TM), and the Blackboard Content System(TM). Together, these solutions create a comprehensive online learning platform that supports multiple approaches to teaching, learning, research and collaboration.

"At CityU, we strive to maintain our long-term commitment to innovation in the use of communications and information technologies for teaching and learning, thus we look forward to bringing the many features and functionalities of Blackboard to our university community," said Dr. Jerry Yu, CIO of City University of Hong Kong. "We have selected a vision-driven and pedagogically oriented approach to guide the implementation to ensure that the system is used and useful for a wide range of stakeholders including students, faculty, staff and administrators."

Implementation of the Blackboard Academic Suite at City University of Hong Kong will begin in October. Some pilot courses will be launched in the early 2005 and full scale deployment is expected by the start of the next academic year in September 2005. Fully implemented, the Blackboard Academic Suite will facilitate the full integration of the university's entire online community with extensions to content management, library integration, Blackboard Building Blocks(R) development and alumni outreach.

"Blackboard is pleased to work with City University of Hong Kong to create a strong networked learning environment that will expand the learning options for its students," said Andrew Rosen, President of Blackboard's international business. "In addition, we welcome City University of Hong Kong as the first Hong Kong member of both our Blackboard Developer Network(SM) and Blackboard Building Blocks program. It is essential to our ongoing success to have representation in these groups from universities worldwide."

The Blackboard Developer Network is a forum for companies to share information about developing Blackboard Building Blocks. Blackboard Building Blocks is the company's open architecture initiative, which allows external partners to develop applications to integrate with any of the Blackboard platforms. Through the Blackboard Building Blocks program, Blackboard clients gain benefits from custom-system design capabilities, innovative thinking from a broad range of experts and the ability to leverage investments in existing products by expanding their reach throughout the Blackboard system.

About City University of Hong Kong

City University (CityU) of Hong Kong celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year (2004); it is largely funded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Peoples Republic of China. CityU has an ambitious strategic plan, reflecting its aspirations to become one of the leading universities in the Asia Pacific region by achieving excellence in teaching and research. The student population of the University is approximately 18,000. By anticipating and responding to local and regional needs and the effects of rapid social and technical change, CityU continues to strife ahead emphasizing on professional education and practice, and applied research. Visit the website at http://cityu.edu.hk to find out more about this exciting University.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard is a leading provider of enterprise software and services to the education industry. The Company's product line consists of five software applications bundled in two suites, the Blackboard Academic Suite(TM) and the Blackboard Commerce Suite(TM). Blackboard's clients include colleges, universities, 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 and staff in North America, Europe and Asia.

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 most recent 10-Q filed with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of October 28, 2004. 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 October 28, 2004.

SOURCE Blackboard Inc.

CONTACTS:
Melissa Chotiner
Public Relations Manager of Blackboard Inc.
+1-202-463-4860, ext. 2404
Mchotiner@blackboard.com
or
Darren Spinck
of DBC Public Relations
+1-866-774-4720
darren@dbcpr.com
for Blackboard Inc.
  
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