PCs to be brought up to speed by Staffordshire County Council

The county of Staffordshire is currently undertaking a trial that could mean that public access to computers and broadband internet may soon be drastically improved in the area.

The success of this trial could see the replacement of approximately 600 computers in libraries throughout the county. At the moment Newcastle and Cannock are areas that are already taking advantage of the new greener and faster systems. A complete range of computer facilities such as broadband internet access, word processing, and e-mail will be given to anyone holds a library card.

The county council’s cabinet support member for cultural services, Councillor Maureen Compton, said “Access to a computer, and the internet in particular, has become fundamentally important to obtaining goods and services in the modern world. This major county council IT upgrade means that people who don’t have access to their own computer but can get to a library have no need to feel excluded. They can do everything from checking their bank account, to scrutinising planning applications in their area or buying a cinema ticket. The internet has also become a valuable tool for leisure, research and keeping in touch with family and friends.”

She also added “This trial could lead to a new generation of public access computers that are up-to-date and comparable to the latest machines with broadband access available domestically in terms of speed and applications available.”

Terminal Services is the name give to the technology currently being employed by these new systems. The county council’s cabinet member responsible for IT, Eddie Boden said: “Terminal Services have the potential to offer enormous benefits to service users and the county council. All applications are held centrally, so instead of having to upgrade hundreds of individual PCs with new software or upgrades it just has to be done once. They are also much more efficient than traditional PCs, cutting energy consumption by around 70 per cent. This has the potential to reduce the county council’s carbon emissions and cut our electricity bill by over £10,000 per year.”

Most of the computers in the local libraries date back to 2001 which is the date they were first brought in for free public access by the county council.

“Our computers were suffering from general problems associated with age, reliability, speed and outdated software,” said Councillor Compton “Users will not only find the new machines to be much faster, but it will be much easier to keep them updated to the latest software standards and they should be much more reliable, allowing access for many more people.”