Regional Council of Bouches-du-Rhône chooses Bull to design
and deploy its Ordina 13 project
60,000 laptops to be distributed to
10th grade students (year 10) and teachers
in all the département's schools
Paris,
September
29, 2005 -
Bull has been chosen by the Regional Council of the French département of Bouches-du-Rhône, to support its 'Ordina 13' project, which aims to bridge the digital divide while accelerating use of the Internet.
Bull will equip 130 high schools with a secured technical infrastructure, including Wi-Fi networks, LAN servers and Internet access. In addition, from September 2005, Bull will distribute 60,000 laptops to 10th grade students (aged 14-15) and their teachers.
"Our motto has been to 'Give our children a better chance'. Our aim is to really enable all students to access a 'digital state of mind' culture, which is their driving force and a guarantee of their future integration," commented Félix Weygand, General Advisor in charge of new technologies within the Regional Council of Bouches du Rhône.
Its sheer size makes the Ordina 13 project a first in France. It gives all the pupils involved the opportunity to use these laptops wherever they are - at home or at school - with the support of the Regional Council, which provides 10 hours' monthly connection to their homes and is also equipping the schools with the necessary high-speed connections and desktop PCs.
Software (a word processor, spreadsheet and encyclopaedia) is preloaded on the portable PCs. They will be lent for a period of one school year, and given back at the end of the year to be updated and redistributed to new pupils. Security and Wi-Fi cards for access the school's local network and the Internet are embedded.
"Bull's involvement and dedication have been key to building and deploying this infrastructure in all our schools, on time. Today, the project is fully operational and the 60,000 laptops can be distributed under the best possible conditions. I have been acutely aware of the commitment and understanding of Bull's teams in supporting the Ordina 13 project, which has received the Marianne d'Or award in the new technology category," explained Anne Brunel, CTO of Bouches-du-Rhône.
"This project is part of our local government strategy, where we are aiming to be the leading IT supplier in France. Ordina 13 illustrates Bull's capacity to deploy innovative and secured solutions on a large scale. I am confident this project - a testament of our in-depth understanding of local authorities' emerging needs - will be rapidly duplicated in other regions in France, as well as the rest of Europe," confirmed Jean-Pierre Barbéris, Managing Director, Bull Services and Solutions at Bull.
Bull's achievements:
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Definition and deployment of the technical architecture and low cabling in every school. Bull also provided networking and servers, in co-operation with France Télécom and SNEF. The global infrastructure includes 520 servers, 6,200 Wi-Fi stations, 26,000 local network access points and 1,200 kilometres of cables. An authentication server is used to guarantee access security. Beginning in August 2003, this phase of the project was completed by the end of August 2005.
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Deployment of 60,000 laptops with - every September - delivery, installation and customization. Bull will also provide basic training to students. At the end of every school year, Bull will be responsible for cleaning and re-formatting the 60,000 laptops. 130 people have been working on this project over the last two months, ready for the distribution of the 60,000 laptops during October and November, and 90 will be involved in collecting them again next June.
About Bull, Architect of an Open World
As one of the leading European IT companies, Bull delivers open, flexible and secure information systems. The group helps public and private sector customers transform their information systems, applying its know-how and expertise in three main areas:
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Capitalizing on its extensive mainframe experience, Bull designs and produces robust, innovative and open servers, based on industry-standard technologies;
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Building on its alliances with leading ISVs, Bull develops and implements flexible and interoperable application infrastructures which give business processes the freedom to evolve;
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Bringing together recognized expertise in end-to-end IT security, Bull secures data and exchanges that are so critical in preserving customers' business integrity.
Bull has a particularly strong presence in the public, healthcare, finance, telecommunications, manufacturing and defense sectors. Its distribution network and business partners cover more than 60 countries worldwide.
For more information visit: http://www.bull.com
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