New lease of life for computers (From Bromsgrove Advertiser)

New lease of life for computers

11:51am Saturday 12th May 2007

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KINDHEARTED Bromsgrove School has given 190 reconditioned computers to ten schools on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

The project was carried out and funded by Leamington-based IT supplier, NS Optimum Ltd.

“We’re delighted to be part of this inspiring project."

Headmaster of Bromsgrove School, Chris Edwards

Headmaster of Bromsgrove School, Chris Edwards, said: "We're delighted to be part of this inspiring project. Without the tremendous support from NS Optimum and the cooperation of the ministry of education in Dominica, the project would not have been possible".

He added: "We hope that our affiliation in this project is the beginning of a long-term link with Dominica as part of our efforts in global education. There's no doubt, students in Dominica and Bromsgrove alike, have much to learn from each other."

Mission Dominica began in July 2006 with discussions in Dominica between the ministry of education and SLIC, the Sustainable Living Initiative Centre.

Jem Winston, director of SLIC, said Dominica had an education-for-all policy, but very little budget was assigned for spending on ICT.

As part of the Sustainable Living Initiative, students are taught about the use of renewable energy. The students need ICT skills to source equipment for implementing renewable energy equipment in Dominica.

NS Optimum Ltd recycled 99 per cent of the redundant PCs from Bromsgrove School. Two hundred machines were repaired, stripped for spare parts, upgraded and prepared for a new lease of life.

Gavin Rose, managing director of NS Optimum, said: "Mission Dominica is not just about recycling PCs, it's about giving students in Dominica access to ICT that they did not have before. We also took the opportunity to send over technicians to train school staff and students on best practices for cabling, maintaining, repairing and expanding computer networks."

After an initial site inspection in January 2007, the computers, along with new cabling, wireless networking and tools, were loaded into a container, which had previously bought bananas to the UK.

Scott Fisher, NS Optimum network manager for Bromsgrove School, said: "The project took extensive planning and preparation. Deployment of the PCs and training took us just two weeks in mid-March and since then all schools have been supported remotely from the UK over a secure internet connection."

The four to six-year-old PCs are expected to serve the schools for at least another three years.

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