SIEMENS: SNSL brings staff & co-ordinators onside at Anfield as part of ambitious learning initiative.

M2 PRESSWIRE-22 December 1998-SIEMENS: SNSL brings teaching staff and ICT co-ordinators onside at Anfield as part of ambitious learning society initiative (C)1994-98 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

RDATE:171298

* Liverpool City Council raises awareness of information and communications technology required for NGfL achievement.

Leading systems integrator, Siemens Network Systems Limited (SNSL), recently took top honours at a venue accustomed to top league performance. The occasion was a seminar co- sponsored by SNSL, Telewest Business Communications and Cisco Systems where Liverpool City Council's educational directorate showed how it planned to accomplish the ambitious targets set out by the Government's National Grid, for Learning (NGfL) initiative.

NGfL has been introduced to improve the potential for learning and achievement through the application of information technology. Central to this is a communications infrastructure that will utilise the world wide web to provide the necessary channels to link schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums and other places of learning.

Underpinning the long-term NGfL objective of attaching all schools to the grid is the introduction of ICT (Information and Communications Technology). The genesis of this 'learning' society will be created using the latest technological innovation, specifically in the area of multi-media sound and vision plus high resolution still images and text. Initially grid development will focus on the education sector providing teacher development and student induction. This will be followed by home-based learning, higher education and life long learning.

Liverpool City Council (LCC) is at the forefront of providing new local government services and implementing NGfL within the educational sector. SNSI, was the vendor who won the City Council's framework agreement to provide the, supply of active Wide Area Network and Local Area Network solutions. Drawn together from a series of separate networks, under a partnership with SNSL, the network means Liverpool City Council plans early achievement of the stated Government targets for electronic mail provision for pupils across its 220 schools. It will also lead the way in open governance, using Internet sites to allow the public greater access to facts and figures.

LCC's education directorate is leading the other council directorates in exploring the potential behind ICT. With each directorate a beneficiary of the considerable IT investment planned, LCC brought representatives from all directorates to the Anfield Park stadium to outline its long term NGfL plans. "ICT has been clearly identified at national and local level as an essential tool for raising standards of achievement", says Frank Cogley, Direct of Education for the City of Liverpool. He continues, "Besides raising awareness for the NGfL programme for Liverpool and showing how this may impact on teaching methods, the seminar explained in detail the issues faced by teaching colleagues in using existing ICT provision and how NGfL will affect them."

With contributions from the Director of Education, Head of IT, Head of Policy and Resources, teachers and officers of the NGfL team, the seminar illustrated the requisite technology necessary to develop ICT literacy. "We have received very positive and upbeat feedback from the teachers we have spoken to", adds Liz Newby, LCC's NGfL manager. "One, for example, said how good it was for Liverpool to be taking a lead on such an important issue. In particular, teachers and ICT co-ordinators, the people who will ultimately be at the cutting edge of all this technology, were keen that working in partnership with them, we continued with a corporate approach with NGfL, taking full advantage of economies of scale that are available."

"The event was a major success," commented Fausto Amoroso, Head of marketing at SNSL. "Not only was this a great example of collaboration between private and public sector organisations but the enthusiastic acceptance of the technical proposals was overwhelming." He adds: "Students using this technology should be more highly motivate and. develop higher levels of comprehension. This will greatly help to elevate their overall educational standard. The advanced nature of the network architecture for LCC will therefore help to enrich the provision of information within this learning culture."

With SNSL's help, LCC is further advanced than many other authorities with its high speed fully triangulated fibre optic network across six council sites in the city centre alone. With LCCs vision and the commitment of SNSL, the partnership forms the bedrock for a network that promises to be a showcase of a public sector communications infrastructure long into the future.

About Siemens Network Systems Limited

Siemens Network Systems Limited (SNSL) specialises in the design and implementation of multi- vendor enterprise-wide networks. They provide a wide range of vendor independent technology skills and professional services to major private sector companies and public sector bodies, including Ford, Barclaycard, DHL, Guinness, Employment Services, and The Patent Office. Twice winner of the Networking Industry Awards for 'System Integrator of the Year' and voted 'Best Systems Integrator' in 1998 by the TUA, SNSLs services range from strategic consultancy, network design, integration and project management to installation maintenance and support. Recognising the speed of change in the communications market, the growing complexity of IT solutions and the demand for more powerful applications, SNSI, has maintained its position as a provider of highly advanced networks by constantly evaluating new technologies, products and suppliers. In this way it ensures customers continue to be offered the most flexible, price performance migration path for their current and future business.

The company is headquartered in Hemel Hempstead, with offices in Manchester, Stirling and Central London. It is a GBP 100m plus company employing over 300 people in the UK.

CONTACT: Kareen Hastrick, Siemens Network Systems Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1442 883382 e-mail: Kareen.Hastrick@snsl.co.uk Kerry Barlow/Neville Rawlings, Insight Marketing & Communications Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1625 500800/1344 867900 e-mail: kbarlow/nrawlings@insightmkt.com

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