C2k built by HP, best in class example of IT in education.

Dublin, 28 August 2008 – C2k, the educational support system constructed by HP for the Northern Ireland Department of Education has reported that it has been generating significant interest from international education authorities who are interested in learning more about the technology best practises being demonstrated in Northern Ireland. Education authority delegates from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Italy, South Africa, Madrid, Armenia and Sardinia have all recently visited Northern Ireland in order to see the C2k schools initiative in operation. A number of further visits are also in the pipeline.

The combination of IT technology and a creative approach to education have helped to ensure that Northern Ireland’s Classroom 2000 education system became a world beater as witnessed by the volume of international interest in the C2k system implemented by the Northern Ireland Department of Education.

Jimmy Stewart, director of C2k comments "We chose HP for their innovative approach to developing and leveraging our technology infrastructure, their understanding of how our needs evolve over time and their ability to work with our developers on a dynamic evolving system. HP was very effective at leveraging relationships with strategic partners to ensure smooth integration of tools. As a result, C2k sets a world-class benchmark for e-learning that other countries can look to as a model for their own education systems."

The C2k system was implemented in 2003 and is not only a world beater in terms of cost effective innovation and success it is also the largest e-learning project ever implemented. In terms of return on investment the centralised procurement approach adopted by the Northern Ireland Department of education has been very successful.

Stewart said “The total cost of ownership has proved to be about 30 per cent lower than for non-centralised educational procurement processes”. The system supports 350,000 students from primary school to university, 20,000 teaching staff and users in 1,224 educational establishments across Northern Ireland.

HP, the lead supplier, has partnered with many strong industry players to enable a unique e-learning experience to be developed that encompasses all stake holders – the educational establishment, teachers, pupils, schools and parents. The other technology enablers include Microsoft (Active Directory, Exchange Server), Cisco (WAN and LAN Network), Tandberg (Video Conferencing Equipment) and HP’s own Learning Platform (LearningNI) and OpenView Management Software Suite. A data centre co-located by Public Sector staff from C2k and HP Managed Services Team help to ensure the on-going success of the project.

The C2k system exploits current technologies to the full delivering email services and virtual classroom access to all, educational content and all manner of communication including full video links. The system is designed to yield a more personalised, responsive and interactive education experience. C2k is built around an adaptive infrastructure that will enable educational establishments to seamlessly accommodate future technology requirements in response to evolving educational needs and changes to curriculum and teaching methods. This was underlined by Martin Murphy, Managing Director of HP Ireland, who said "C2k is a pioneering initiative and can act as a global example of e-learning best practice". Mary Mallon, C2k Curriculum Manager, said “At the heart of our system is the Learning Platform, a rich, collaborative environment, designed to support the needs of personalization and learner independence.”

Many benefits have already been realised. The key benefits include:-

• Access to C2k Services via the internet by all stake holders from their home or school.
• The availability of digital material from a wide range of sources including educational material from television sources.
• Subscriptions to on-line libraries of curriculum content.
• Collaboration between and across all levels enables teacher to teacher, pupil to pupil and teacher to pupil to communicate and respond to the needs of each other regardless of location.
• Student access to learning materials and other sources of information is no longer location dependent thus affording greater levels of flexibility.
• The centralised management of the IT systems ensures educational staff can focus on their primary role.

Roy Beattie, Director of Integration for C2k, said "This will open the door wider for parents to share in the education of their children. The solution we have developed with HP enables remote access from the home, from a local library, from a youth centre, or from anywhere that has a network connection”.

HP in Ireland

An independent study of the Irish Outsourcing and Managed Services market by industry analysts IDC, confirms HP as the overwhelming leader in the market.  The study by International Data Corporation (IDC) "Irish Outsourcing and Managed Services Market," is the first study of its type to analyse the outsourcing and managed services market in Ireland to this extent. When asked to name the companies they consider to be the primary suppliers of Outsourcing and Managed Services in Ireland, HP came top of the list being named by 36% of the Top 1000 companies surveyed in unprompted responses.