30 January 2014

Cambridgeshire Council has opened 50 access points in community centres, village halls and other public buildings so that those without internet access can get online near their homes.

With the Cambridgeshire Public Services Network (CPSN) project, Cambridgeshire County Council set itself a tall challenge – reducing IT spend while providing better technology services to staff and citizens.

That also meant developing a network which was easy for its partners to use too, so that the barriers to getting the technology were removed and strong partnerships could drive more use of the network around the county.

With the help of Virgin Media Business (VMB), Cambridgeshire now has a network that’s capable of increasing internet speeds and data access in more than 200 schools, 32 libraries, and via more than 50 community access points. Twenty-eight fire stations across the county are also now able to enjoy the benefits of using it too.

VMB says that what’s “truly inspiring” about the project is the difference it’s making to local people. Cambridgeshire County Council has opened 50 access points in community centres, village halls and other public buildings so that people who may not have the internet, or just prefer to socialise with neighbours while they browse, can get online near their homes.

The CPSN uses a 10Gbps fibre-optic core network and services can be provided both on-premise or via the cloud, depending on how partners want to share them. VMB says it’s not just all about connection speeds – the new shared network also makes it cheaper and simpler for partners to get services like web filtering security software compared to buying them themselves. And being able to buy the framework’s network services from the cloud means that full security protection comes ‘built-in’ so even the smallest authorities can afford the best security. 

As well as improving services in the community, VMB says that the CPSN is also reducing county council network bills by a £1m each year. That has a knock-on effect on all the partners using the network – the more money that is saved, the more funds are made available to invest in frontline council services.

“CPSN allows us to focus on the ‘business’ in question, not the plumbing that lies beneath it,” says Henry Cressey, ICT head at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue. “The potential buying power that comes from joining forces give every partner a very real reason to participate. We’re all doing things with the network that improves what we do and means we spend less money doing so.”

VMB adds that the next chapter in the CPSN story is to increase its reach. The team aims to open up the network to other public sector organisations, even beyond Cambridgeshire’s borders.