Rollout to 5,000 Schools Completed in Just 4 Months with NComputingNComputing was founded with the vision of making computing affordable for everyone.
By: Mutual PR The ambitious project was funded jointly by the Central and State government under the ICT@Schools scheme. The goal was to bring computer training and e-learning to 5,000 government schools with 1.8 million students and was commissioned in November 2008 after a competitive tender process. Four months later, the schools have each been equipped with an up-to-date computer lab with the latest computer hardware, Microsoft software, trained instructors, and reliable power-supply solutions. “The government’s goal is to accelerate computing access to the millions of students in its system, but to do it in an economical, eco-friendly way. NComputing plays an important role in achieving that goal,” said Mr. Suresh Chanda, IT Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. "We are pleased that this first milestone has been met and that computing access has been created for 1.8 million students around the state – most of whom have never had the opportunity to even touch a computer.” “The students and their parents are very happy. The computer is becoming a part of their today and tomorrow,”said Mrs. Pushpavati, Principal, Zilla Parishad High School, Medak. The computerization project has been successful due to two key factors. First, the government was determined to provide maximum number of computer seats at a minimum cost and chose the NComputing desktop virtualization technology. The NComputing solution is based on a simple fact: today’s PCs are so powerful that the vast majority of students only use a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing’s desktop virtualization solution taps this unused capacity so that it can be simultaneously used by many students. Each student connects their own monitor, keyboard and mouse to an NComputing device which is then connected to the shared PC. Each student gets a full PC experience. The NComputing devices are easy to deploy, rugged, and only use 1 watt of electricity. The low electricity usage is critical because electricity in India can be expensive and often unreliable. With NComputing, the Andhra Pradesh government will use 90% less electricity compared to a traditional all-PC lab. The second element of the project success is the Public-Private Partnership model wherein the Government of Andhra Pradesh has awarded turnkey contracts to Education Service Providers (ESPs) like NIIT. This scheme was implemented through a transparent open tendering process and the contracts signed with 8 such ESPs for: - System integration - Site preparation - Facilities creation - Faculty - Teaching to students as part of syllabus - Courseware support - Facilities management “We are honored that NComputing was selected for this very strategic initiative as it will teach and empower the next generation of Andhra Pradesh’s workforce,” said Mr. Raj Shah, Chief Marketing Officer, NComputing.“ “The Government of Andhra Pradesh has shown a great deal of vision and foresight in designing a model for enhancing the education of the next generation, and the early success is very positive,“ said Mr. L. Balasubramanian, President of NIIT’s School Learning Solutions division.“NIIT has been involved in bringing this cost-effective technology for computerization of schools in Andhra Pradesh. We are happy that the shared-computing technology has been scaled up to 5,000 schools. We feel that this can be a suitable model for schools in other States.” # # # About NComputing, Inc. NComputing was founded with the vision of making computing affordable for everyone. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company's patented technology enables schools, governments and businesses to dramatically lower computing costs, energy consumption and e-waste. NComputing has offices around the world. For more information please log on to www.ncomputing.com End
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