Project of the Year Awards: NETLinc

Over the past seven years, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has been working to connect schools, libraries, community centres and other locations to a single educational network, NETLinc. The project is now one of the largest managed school education networks in the world - and claims to be the biggest Microsoft Exchange network in Europe. NETLinc connects about 17,000 computers in over 520 sites across the County, with implementation and technical support delivered by IT services firm Ramesys.

What were the business objectives of the project?

From its outset in 1998, NETLinc was intended to connect all schools and pupils in LCC, linking schools, libraries, hospitals and other sites to a single high-speed network. 'The overall objective was enabling children to learn anywhere and anytime, with access to the same set of resources,' said Lincolnshire education authority ICT project manager Geoff Chandler. The infrastructure now serves as a platform for delivering a range of educational materials to pupils and teachers across the County.

What were the key milestones in the implementation?

The project was completed over seven phases, each taking about a year. Phases one through four involved an initial proof of concept and a series of rollouts across primary and secondary schools. Over the following three years, the network was extended to libraries, hospitals and other community centres, creating a community grid for learning across the County.

What technology was used?

The project involves about 17,000 computers and more than 500 servers, all running Microsoft Exchange. 'In essence it's a Microsoft environment, with hardware supplied by HP. All email and internet filtering is provided by Symantec and ClearSwift,' said Chandler.

How did you manage the business change and people issues involved?

The project involved a massive amount of training and education, with every school being visited to explain what was coming and how it was going to work. 'This was critical to overcoming the resistance to change,' said Chandler. Because few schools have an IT support function, Ramesys handles a central helpdesk and administers most of the desktops remotely.

What results were achieved?

All schools in the County are now connected, which was the primary goal of the project. 'All email is accessible to everyone, wherever they are, which is a tremendous benefit to both teachers and pupils,' said Chandler. LCC uses the system for all of its major communication, with all messages read by 85 per cent of recipients on the same day. 'A lot of other Local Education Authorities are now coming to us and asking us how we've done this, so that they can try and do it too,' said Chandler. Highlighting the success of the project, the Department for Education and Skills recently selected Lincolnshire for a paperless communications trial.

What were the lessons learnt?

'There's two main things. We would have outsourced more, sooner, and in an ideal world we would have done more training, but this is obviously constrained by available budgets,' said Chandler.

What were the business benefits and return on investment?

The focus was more about delivering higher standards of education and learning, rather than trying to generate high returns. From a national perspective, NETLinc is helping LCC deliver on the government's primary education objectives. 'The government set out an elearning consultation paper last year. All the stuff that was in there, Lincolnshire has already been delivering for a couple of years,' said Chandler. Another issue has been the workload burden on teachers, with the government trying to free up their time as much as possible. 'This whole project is focused on giving teachers the ability to more easily share information with each other, reducing the time taken to prepare for classes.' NETLinc is also delivering benefits in terms of inclusion, giving as many pupils as possible access to educational resources, and also helping parents become more involved in their children's education. From a financial point of view, £2.5m worth of educational content has been delivered to Lincolnshire's learners for approximately £160,000, saving over £2.3m.

How do you plan to build on the project further?

Chandler says he plans to extend the rollout of GPRS access for remote communities and those with special needs, as well as championing a greater focus on mobility by giving children access via laptops and other mobile devices.

Computing says:

The government has identified the education sector as a key target for broadband rollout because of the benefits that high speed internet links can bring to learning. Lincolnshire County Council has taken a major initiative to prove that new technology plays a vital role in children's education and offers a valuable tool for connecting the community.

Project at a glance

• NETLinc is one of the largest managed school education networks in the world, connecting about 17,000 computers and 500 servers in 520 sites.
• Lincolnshire County Council worked with IT services firm Ramesys to create the network, linking 110,000 pupils and teachers.
• Although the benefits are primarily about better education, savings of over £2.3m have been made by aggregating purchasing of educational content across the County.
• Lincolnshire has now been selected by the DfES to pilot a new paperless communications project.