Public Sector Roundup: Simple anti-virus for school

gallery

Brighton College gets new anti-virus system

Brighton College has signed up for the NOD32 anti-virus system from ESET to protect its 650 computers and 20 servers, which are used by students aged three to 18.

The new system is simpler than the previous one, which required workarounds and manufacturer-supplied batch files to complete basic tasks, said Wayne Govier, the college's network manager.

"I used to spend a great deal of time managing our previous anti-virus solution and I was still somewhat lacking in confidence in the product. NOD32 has relieved me of this burden and given me more time to concentrate on other areas of the network," he said.

"Obviously virus protection is extremely important to us. Children are very technology savvy, they bring in memory sticks and all other types of portable storage devices to plug into the machines," he added. "Their initial thoughts may not necessarily be for the integrity of the network and whether they might have accidentally brought in a piece of malicious software, so we need to ensure that our preventative measures are the best available."

Police forces get new safety information system

Thirteen police forces - including Merseyside, Sussex and the Metropolitan Police - have signed up for an information system from Northgate to battle dangerous driving.

The system will manage notifications for any drivers caught committing certain road offences alerting them to safety awareness courses they can take to avoid a penalty. The system will also monitor attendance and reinstate the original penalty if the driver doesn't show for class.

Ian Blackhurst, managing director of criminal justice and public safety at Northgate Public Services, said: "Education is critical to tackling attitudes to speeding and to reducing the volume of offences which endanger public safety. Research has shown that excess or inappropriate speed is a significant factor in one third of all collisions on our roads. Safety awareness courses are designed to heighten driver awareness of the dangers of speeding to themselves, their families and on the wider community. We are delighted to be working with a further thirteen forces to open up access to safety awareness courses for eligible drivers."

Mobile tech boosts Bedford Hospital

Operational services at Bedford Hospital Trust have seen a boost in efficiency after rolling out handheld mobile technology from TAAP.

Now, the 26 tradesmen receive their job dockets for repairs and maintenance via their devices, letting them save time and money on travel and administration, while letting managers track progress and cut mistakes.

Repairs Manager Peter Hurst said: "The new PDA system allows us to see real-time progression of our workload, allocating new jobs is now a simple process of looking at our PC to see who is next available and sending the job to the tradesman's PDA... The PDA system has eliminated misplaced or lost paperwork and there is never any unreadable or missing information. Instantly from implementation the improvement to our operation has been amazing."

Email to a friend

Print this page