Blackboard was founded in 1997 with a vision to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for the education experience. Originally, the Company provided consulting services to the IMS Global Learning Consortium, initially a consortium of universities formed to develop technical standards for online learning applications. In 1998, Blackboard released its first software product, an online learning application developed at Cornell University. Since then, we have expanded our product line to include four additional software applications, addressing a broad range of our clients' needs.
Our online learning application, the Blackboard Learning System, is the most widely-adopted course management system among U.S. postsecondary institutions according to studies by EDUCAUSE, a non-profit membership organization focused on information technology in education, and Market Data Retrieval, an independent market research firm. In addition, a 2003 survey by the Universities and Colleges Information Systems Association and the Joint Information Systems Committee, organizations representing higher education institutions in the United Kingdom, reported that the Blackboard Learning System is the most widely used third-party online learning application among higher education institutions in the United Kingdom.