The new Academy has selected European Electronique, a local ICT company, as its technology partner, providing the Oxfordshire business with the opportunity to play a major part in the transformation of education in the local community. Leslie Stephen, Director of Education at the Diocese of Oxford commented, ‘We are looking forward to working with European Electronique.

We were all very impressed with the team's presentation, particularly the enthusiasm, the technological vision and solutions and the commitment to help harness ICT to improve the lives of young people’. Students aged 11-19 will benefit from an array of modern technologies that include a new Learning Resource Centre (LRC) and an ICT media rich classroom.

The Academy will specialise in Maths, ICT and Sport, so provision of 21st Century technology will be instrumental in fulfilling the aspirations and ambitions of both staff and students. European Electronique will bring considerable experience and know how to the proposed solution, having already delivered in excess of 23 Academy projects. ‘We are absolutely delighted with winning the project and very proud to be associated with Oxford Academy.

We are confident in our ability to offer the Academy an innovative approach to fostering excellent learning and teaching through ICT’, remarked Yolanta Gill, European Electronique’s Managing Director, adding, ‘we are sure that the Academy will have a profound impact on the regeneration of the local community and we are honoured to be a part of the process’.

Strategic Communications Campaign sponsored by European Electronique

Presented to the Local Authority or Government organisation that can demonstrate how its communications strategy has delivered measurable changes in public perception or customer behaviour and stands out as an example of best practice.

Winner: National Patient Safety Agency - Clean Your Hands campaign

The National Patient Safety Agency’s cleanyourhands campaign aims to improve the hand hygiene of healthcare workers and prevent healthcare associated infection. Since the campaign launch in September 2004, it has been adopted by all acute NHS trusts in England and Wales.

Year 3 of the campaign was launched in December 2007, following a programme of research undertaken to inform the strategic approach. This included a feedback event with 125 local campaign coordinators, face-to-face interviews with infection control nurses and a survey of over 300 healthcare workers.

The research identified that a general lack of clarity existed amongst staff regarding the correct hand hygiene procedure, and indicated that harder-hitting messages and materials that stand out more in hospital settings were required. Working with UK design agency 999 design, a number of concepts were developed and refined. The new materials are direct and have great visual high impact, and use a black background, ensuring stand out within the hospital environment. Other new developments include provision of artwork for t-shirts, stickers and floor vinyl so that NHS trusts can produce additional items locally.

Independent evaluation has already demonstrated the campaign’s effectiveness in changing behaviour. Materials and experiences have been shared with other healthcare organisations and systems around the world, including the USA, Ireland, Mexico and Canada.

Commended:
Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety - Missing Matthew
Haringey Council - Better Haringey
Ealing Council - Priority Branding
Westminster City Council - Reputation Tracker

This free of charge workshop day consisted of the following:

• Web enabling your curriculum - Adding functionality to your Microsoft server platform
• Managing learning applications (including how it ties into the above)
• Web Based Resources
• Interfacing with school systems
• Optional Workshop / Q and A Session

The day also included interactive demonstrations, refreshments and lunch. The aim of the day was to discuss with the delegates ways that the technologies can help and improve current situations within their institutions. This was dealt with in a relaxed atmosphere where delegates were invited to ask questions and get involved.

Among those recruited from Evesham Technology is Garry Street who joined European Electronique as the Technical Services Manager in January this year. In addition the company has recruited another six highly skilled staff from the engineering, support and sales departments of Evesham Technology, augmenting the considerable skill set already in place at European Electronique. Garry is responsible for overseeing larger contracts including the prestigious Oasis Community Learning project won by European Electronique last year.

The contract will provide a fully managed service to over 15,000 users and delivery of 12 nationwide academy projects over a 3 year period. In addition, Garry is currently responsible for one familiar contract, the 2.5 million pound per year Oxfordshire County Council project, which European Electronique acquired after Evesham Technology went into administration.

The work is to supply IT services including the supply and installation of hardware, the refresh and disposal of existing equipment and support and maintenance. Other contracts gained from Evesham Technology include the Home Computing Initiative and some corporate business.

 Portfolio Holder for Customer Service and ICT, Cllr Nicholas Turner, said:
"Cherwell District Council's One Stop Shop approach is being hailed as a model of good practice. It has been built in partnership with public and private sector organisations and it is just the first stage in our journey towards excellence. European Electronique have worked closely with ICT staff at the Council to ensure that their technology fully meets the needs of our staff and customers while delivering an efficient, value-for-money service. Together, we will be monitoring the One Stop Shop closely in its early days, building on successes in preparation for the next stage in our customer service revolution.”

The pilot scheme is based on Sun Microsystems Thin Client Technology delivering environmentally friendly centralised computing using Microsoft Windows Terminal Services. Running on virtualised platforms (VMWare ESX 3) ensures that the system is energy efficient and cost effective. Each thin client unit uses only 4 watts of power and increases the client (PC) refresh cycle from 3 years to between 10 and 20 years.

The seminars lasted a morning and were held at Sun Microsystems offices in Coventry and Camberley. There was also no cost for the seminar.

The day consisted of the following:

• Introductions
• An explanation of the technology
• Demonstrations
• Customer case study
• Reviews of successful deployment
• Refreshments throughout the morning

We found the seminars to be extremely successful and most people who attended requested that we arrange visits to there institutions to further demo and discuss thin client and virtualisation.

Another show that we attend yearly steps up to the plate to expose cutting edge technology used in the corporate world which is to be adapted to the education vertical.

UCISA represents the whole of higher education, and increasingly further education, in the provision and development of academic, management and administrative information systems, providing a network of contacts and a powerful lobbying voice.

With our relationships with vendors such as Sun, VM Ware and Jacarta we were able to relay our experience and knowledge to the delegates at the conference. Providing a source of technical expertise we managed place ourselves in front of key decision makers of up and coming projects within the Higher Education and Further Education sectors.

We decided this year to employ a professional stand builder to create a bespoke stand to reflect our fresh brand identity. The stand was built around the technologies being exhibited which is a good reflection on the work we specialise in, that being the installation, integration and supply of new technology solutions into new build education projects.

European Electronique has attended this show for a number of years now and exhibits each year a selection of emerging technologies for education to enhance learning and stretch ICT budgets.

Technologies we Exhibited on our stand D85 in the Grand Hall

• Sunray Thin Client & Secure Global Desktop
• "Campusjet" Pull Printing Solutions with HP and SafeCom
• European Electronique's Integrated VLE and Learning Portal Solutions
• Small form factor Technology
• Oneclick Power Saving Sockets

As with most years at BETT we experienced a large surge of interest from educational institutions in our services. Interest varied from our product supply and delivery speeds to new build projects and technical services offered.

From this show we have come away with many ideas and we shall continually monitor technologies within education to ensure that next year we can satisfy the 2009 technology shopping list of educators out there.