London Grid for Learning

Customer
London Grid for Learning (LGfL) was established in June 2000 by the 33 London Local Authorities to provide extensive and cost effective ICT services, particularly broadband and e-learning tools, by working together to put in place online resources and services for schools which exceed what can be achieved by working individually (in terms of quality and value for money).

As well as uniting expertise and experience, collective regional buying power saves schools millions of pounds a year (about £35,000 per primary and £135,000 per secondary school) for the services and resources provided by LGfL, compared to the cost of schools buying the same services individually.

The Contract
LGfL selected Synetrix* as its ICT partner of choice for the provision of broadband infrastructure and a range of network services to support 2,700 schools across the capital. The original requirement was to build a new IP network which would deliver effective broadband applications, content and Internet access. Since the original requirements were specified however, additional needs of a number of new educational customers have been added to the project including the provision of services to London Libraries, Adult and City Learning Centres and extended to Independent Schools and Academies. In addition, innovations continue to emerge that utilise the versatility and ubiquity of the network and extend the investment in the developed infrastructure. These may be replacement services that offer greater performance and are typically more cost effective, or new services that introduce new and more efficient ways of working and learning.

The LGfL network is now large, powerful and employs leading edge technology. At its heart are three core locations linked at 20Gbps which each accommodate Juniper MX960 switches providing huge switching capacity. The network extends out in resilient fibre loops to the suburbs where aggregation points or 'points of presence' provide for low cost fibre optic connections to schools.

Synetrix* also provide LGfL and its customers with extensive and proactive monitoring of the network through its 24-hour service desk – often intercepting any problems before user are even aware of them.

Benefits
Synetrix* has provided a solution that has not only met the requirements of such a large scale project, but exceeded them. It provides approximately ten times the required bandwidth for the LGfL network to allow secure, fast, always-on access to services and online learning for around 1.5million users across London. The powerful infrastructure now in place enables cross functional collaboration within many agencies across Local and Central Government, NHS, Criminal Justice, museums, and other public and voluntary services organisations.
Across the 2,700 London schools covered by LGfL a wide range of benefits have been delivered to pupils and staff alike. The network enables collaboration and allows for private learning environments and provides fast, flexible and secure ‘anytime, anywhere’ access to learning tools.

The LGfL network is a fundamental building block for the transformation of services to schools and government across the capital and sets a global precedent on delivering best value.