Barely a week seems to go by without a new revelation exposing breakdowns in IT security at a government agency or local authority. It was therefore interesting to hear that since our last edition the Government Connect programme has announced a £2.25m package of support to assist and encourage implementation by local authorities of the Government Connect Secure eXtranet (GCSx). The system allows secure exchange of personal information between councils and central government where this is needed to provide effective services to the public.

One of the articles in this month’s edition explains a 3 step approach to compliance to Government Connect including the application form for funding.

We hope you find this month’s articles of interest and look forward to bringing you a “Green Special” next month. As its name suggests it will be packed with articles highlighting where technology can help reduce carbon emissions whilst making savings to operational costs.

No time? Go straight to the article by using the links below

Case Study
Lakeside Primary School turn a 3m wall into an interactive Whiteboard.

Following an ICT upgrade from Komm-IT Services Ltd the School now use a massive 3 metre plain white wall as an interactive Whiteboard. It was bought and installed for a fraction of the cost of a normal interactive Whiteboard.

See how Lakeside Primary School, based in Frimley, Surrey interact with a plain white wall with little more than a projector and a laptop with a USB connector!

Solution Profile
A 3 step plan to Government Connect Compliance.

The Department of Work and Pensions ( DWP) is pushing the boundary of the secure network to the end-point of all end-user connections to the whole of the UK Local Authority population.

NetMotion Wireless has developed a three step plan to help Local Authority ICT Staff gain a solid understanding of how to comply with the Government Connect Code of Connection; to identify and mitigate these wireless network risks.

Case Study
Managing Emergency Rest Centres - The Way Forward.

A key role for local authorities during the response to a major incident is the provision and management of Emergency Rest Centres for people who have been displaced as a result of the incident.

Scottish Borders Council working in collaboration with a commercial software company (Frontworks) developed the Frontworks ERC program which is a web-based system to manage evacuees within a rest centre.

Press Release
Government Connect pledges £2.25m local authority support package.

Part of this package is a £1.5m benefits realisation fund to be managed by IDeA.

John Hayes IDeA’s Director of Services says, “This fund will provide for approximately sixty (60) £25k award packages. We are also looking at collective bids from partnerships or shared service initiatives which may attract a larger award. This fund will directly enable LAs to get financial support for their work to realise the benefits of being connected to GCSx as well as help the sector overall".

The scope of qualifying projects is virtually unlimited and includes both technical and business process projects..