Government Grant

11 Mar 2008 07:00

Trakm8 Holdings PLC11 March 2008 Embargoed until 0700h, Tuesday 11 March 2008 TRAKM8 HOLDINGS PLC ("Trakm8" or "the Company") Future Intelligent Transport Systems - Project Freeflow Trakm8, (AIM: TRAK), one of the UK's leading telematics technology and serviceproviders to the global vehicle tracking and security markets, is pleased toannounce that it has been awarded £354,000 grant funding by the TechnologyStrategy Board (TSB), (formerly part of the Department of Trade & Industry) tobe an Industry Partner in the Future Intelligent Transport Systems - FreeflowProject (Freeflow). Trakm8 has observed developments in government legislation and other regionalinitiatives over the last few years, with a particular interest in road tolling,congestion charging and vehicle workplace safety. Freeflow is a collaborativeprogramme which aims to develop tools for managing and optimising road networksand at the same time informing and guiding travellers around these networks.This project places Trakm8 in a position to extend the reach of telematicsthrough the accelerated development of new data management software and serverarchitectures developed for the needs of transport network managers and usersalike. Trakm8 believes that there is strong potential for early exploitation ofelements of the project, particularly in the data management software areas. Freeflow is a £5.1m three year collaborative programme consisting of developmentresources, hardware and associated costs, with total grant funding of £3.1mcash. The programme will be undertaken in collaboration with Transport forLondon and City of York Council who will demonstrate the innovation provided byTrakm8, ACIS, Kizoom, Mindsheet, QinetiQ, Imperial College London, LoughboroughUniversity and the University of York. TSB grant funding will contribute 60% ofthe total industry partner programme costs whilst Trakm8's contribution to theproject will consist of development resources backed by its intellectualproperty knowledge and application experience. This grant brings the totalproject grant funding awarded to Trakm8 to £1.45m over the next three years. Cary Knapton, CEO of Trakm8 added: "Trakm8 is delighted to play a key role inthis programme, which brings together leading industry players in our sectorwith academia and major transport data users. Trakm8 looks forward to thisexciting challenge which will enable us to participate in market and industryopportunities at a faster pace than originally envisaged. Trakm8 looks forwardto working closely with our programme partners and the TSB to help meet theincreasing challenges facing road users now and in the future." -ends- For further information please contact: Trakm8 Holdings PLC 0870 380 0531Cary Knapton, Chief Executive Officer Tim Couling, Finance Director Arbuthnot Securities 020 7012 2000Paul Vanstone Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150Simon HudsonPaul Youens About Trakm8 Trakm8, based in Shaftesbury, Dorset is a leading technology designer, developerand provider of hardware and software to the vehicle tracking and securitymarket. The Company distributes its hardware and software worldwide through anetwork of distributors. In addition, the Company provides ASP vehiclemonitoring and tracking services direct to the B2B market. Trakm8's productsallow vehicles and drivers to be monitored, allowing organisations to managedeliveries and services, or track stolen vehicles down to 5 metres. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange