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DataArt Builds AirTroductions.com

DataArt announced technical completion of AirTroductions, an in-flight registration and networking platform, allowing passengers to "find the perfect seatmate by matching up like-minded flyers".

"If I'm looking to find a new business contact, to share a cab from the airport, to find a date or simply to have a silent seatmate while flying from point A to point B, AirTroductions will let me do it", said AirTroductions Founder Peter Shankman in February of this year, explaining to DataArt developers his idea of expedia meets Friendster meets match.com for business and personal networking in the air. Six months later the project is live with almost a 1,000 registered users.

The premise and the site are simple. After buying an airline ticket, the traveler fills out a personal profile at airtroductions.com, specifying whether she has an interest in personal or a business contact, enters the flight data - including the flight number and date of travel - and immediately sees everyone else who's entered their information for that flight. It's strictly voluntary, and like any other networking or dating site, the traveler can enter as much or as little information as he or she wants, and it's completely private. All correspondence takes place through the site, all personal information stays confidential. On the day of the flight, travelers can choose to meet at the airport, and if they get along, ask the gate agent to seat them together.

"This is a great example of global sourcing working for the benefit of global business and networking", said Vica Vinogradova, VP of Corporate Communications at DataArt. "Peter never met DataArt developers in person, yet it didn't prevent them from managing the process impeccably. We look forward for AirTroductions to take off."

"AirTroductions was built by the award winning development team at DataArt, who came in under budget and under deadline. Utilizing them made the tech aspect of the site very easy and painless," said Shankman.

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DataArt Executives Support 2005 Komen New York City Race for the Cure®

DataArt executives participated in the 2005 Komen New York City Race for the Cure® on Sunday morning, joining more than 20,000 New Yorkers in their support for the fight against breast cancer.

Vica Vinogradova, DataArt's VP of Corporate Communications, ran with "100 Women in Hedge Funds" team, which raised over $30,000 to date and is the fifth largest contributor to the race this year. "Being part of this race was an overwhelming experience: it's empowering to see so many people support the cause," said Vinogradova. "Hearing breast cancer survivors tell their stories and seeing their determination to win this battle makes the necessity of finding the cure a tangible reality. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends for supporting me, and especially want to thank Bernie Sucher, Chairman of Alfa Capital, and Eugene L. Scott, Publisher of Tennis Week Magazine, for their generous contributions."

Besides raising almost $2,000, Vica recruited Alexei Miller, DataArt's EVP, to join the race. Alexei finished among the first 200 elite runners. "In our every day routine, we don't realize the toll that breast cancer takes on lives of women. But when you run surrounded by people wearing signs "in memory of", your perspective on things changes dramatically", said Miller. The Komen Race for the Cure® series is the largest series of 5K run/walks in the world. Since its origination in 1983, it has grown to an international series of more than 1 million participants. Last year the race raised almost $2.5 million for the fight against breast cancer.

The facts are grim: one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. The Komen New York City Race for Cure® raises money to fund education, screening and treatment programs for thousands of underserved women, in addition to national medical research. The fund raising drive continues through October 31, 2005. Please join DataArt in supporting this important cause!

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DataArt Executives Create Business Opportunities with Online Networking

RusWIT, the Russian chapter of WorldWIT.org, headed by DataArt's marketing executives, held a kick-off meeting in St. Petersburg. The event presented interesting business networking opportunities as it was attended by representatives of KPMG, Intel, IFC and The St. Petersburg Times newspaper among others. Today RusWIT is 100-members strong and continues to grow exponentially.

"We did our best to organize this event", said Julia Zavileyskaya, co-executive director of RusWIT. "The turnout was great, and we initiated several important business opportunities. RusWIT gatherings help strengthen DataArt's ecosystem of partners and clients, providing true value - access to the industry experts". "The best feedback we had was the numerous inquiries about our future events", - added Jane Kurts.

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• DataArt Hosts 2nd Global Leadership Forum
• "It's a Man's World. Or is it?" - DataArt in a February column on WorldWIT.org
• Women in IT Connect to Russia