IBM snares $70 million schools wireless contract

Peter Dinham
Sunday, 26 April 2009 08:35

Business IT - Technology

Following on the heels of Microsoft, Lenovo and Adobe, the services arm of IBM is the latest company to benefit from the Rudd Government backed NSW schools technology give-away, pocketing a $70 million wireless networking contract.

The multi-million dollar contract adds to the $600 million handed to Microsoft, Lenovo and Adobe in just the last month - with IBM to roll out secure, scalable wireless connectivity at 463 NSW public secondary and central schools, for more than 200,000 students and around 25,000 teachers.

NSW Minister for Education and Training, Verity Firth, says the IBM solution will connect wireless enabled notebooks via a centrally managed network, providing students with increased access to information and opportunities for collaboration, and teachers with the tools they need to deliver a “world-class education.”

Firth says the network, to be delivered over the next 12 months, will support access to learning resources, school resources and the internet, and “the way kids learn is going to be transformed……..we are not tying students to their desks – learning activities using online resources including the internet can take place in classrooms or the library.”

Steve Bond, IBM Australia & New Zealand general manager for public sector, says that, in addition to the design and build of an Aruba-based wireless solution that leverages the department’s existing investment, the company will draw on its experience in large-scale wireless implementations to provide “vital project management, network configuration and roll-out expertise, enabling most secondary schools to take advantage of the new technology before the end of the year.”

Bond says that to achieve this, implementation teams will be set up across regional and metropolitan New South Wales creating approximately 100 contractor roles during the course of the network deployment.
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