4.6.2007 Dimes and Culmentor: ICT sector Center for EU Cooperation established in Finland

Finnish ICT sector initiative organisation partners with pan-European public sector project experts

Helsinki, Finland - June 4, 2007 - Oy Culmentor Ltd. and Dimes Association (Digital Media Service Innovations - Finland) today announced the establishing of an ICT sector Center for EU Cooperation (ICT-CEC) in Finland. The new ICT-CEC provides expertise, assistance and coordination services to enterprises and SMEs, research institutions and universities for applying, managing and reporting on EU framework programme and other funding for ICT related development projects.

The Center's goal for the first year is to prepare 7-10 projects, in which the share of EU funding is several million Euros. Mr. Jukka Hellgren, the CEO of Culmentor, has been appointed to head the center.

"Managing EU development projects successfully requires a considerable amount of experience and highly efficient processes. Securing funding also requires knowledge of how Brussels, its language and the framework programmes work. Universities and research institutions are, in general, quite well versed in applying for funding from the EU and managing it; it is companies that need support in this field. We are very pleased to be working with Dimes in bringing the benefits of the EU framework programmes to the Finnish ICT sector," says Mr. Jukka Hellgren, the newly appointed head of the ICT-CEC.

Founded in 2005 by Nokia, TietoEnator, the leading Finnish operators Elisa and Finnet, and the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, Dimes (Digital Media Service Innovations - Finland) is a nationwide initiative that fosters the development of Finnish technology expertise in services and business. The association offers an active, non-affiliated forum that brings together companies of all sizes and organizations in the public sector. Dimes also promotes closer collaboration between industry players and represents Finland in technology organisations of the European Union.

"Our agreement with Culmentor establishes a major node in coordinating and managing ICT EU development project funding in Finland. In Culmentor, we have a solid partner to help the Finnish ICT sector obtain EU funding for projects that fit into the framework and other funding programmes. We need this expertise, especially for SME companies, as they do not possess adequate or specialized resources to deal with complex EU application, management or reporting processes," says Mr. Kimmo Ojuva, President, Dimes.

Headquartered in Finland, Oy Culmentor Ltd is a leading pan-European consulting and software company specializing in the preparation, management and implementation of European publicly funded development projects. In addition to having extensive expertise in the management of EU development projects and their funding, Culmentor Ltd. has developed tailor-made software tools and processes for EU project management. The company is involved in EU projects in e.g. Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.


Contacts:

Dimes Association
Mr. Kimmo Ojuva, President
Tel. +358 400 525 845
kimmo.ojuva(ät)dimes.fi

Oy Culmentor Ltd
Mr. Jukka Hellgren, CEO
Tel. +358 10 7340 602
jukka.hellgren(ät)culmentor.fi

Netprofile Finland (PR Agency Contact)
Ms. Christina Forsgård
Tel. +358 40 571 9192
christina(ät)netprofile.fi


About Dimes Association
Dimes (Digital Media Service Innovations - Finland) is a nationwide initiative that fosters the development of Finnish technology expertise in services and business. The association offers an active, non-affiliated forum that brings together companies of all sizes and organizations in the public sector. Dimes supports the development of Finland's information society services and internationally competitive businesses. Additionally, the association promotes closer collaboration between industry players and represents Finland in technology organizations of the European Union. The association was founded in the spring of 2005 by Nokia, TietoEnator, Elisa, Finnet and YLE. Dimes currently has over 50 member companies. For further information, please visit www.dimes.fi.

About Culmentor Ltd
Oy Culmentor Ltd. is a consulting and software company specializing in the preparation, management and implementation of European publicly funded development projects. Culmentor offers development, management and implementation of development projects through different service packages. These include the project consulting package Projectic; the project management package Proservic; and the project management software solution Reportronic. For more information, please visit www.culmentor.com.