The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency is to formally launch the new Infrastructure Services Framework for education on Friday 29 September 2006 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
The 16 successful suppliers will be represented and they will meet leading members of the Becta team. Photographs of individual suppliers meeting Becta Chief Executive Stephen Crowne and other shots of the event will be available on request.
The Infrastructure Services Framework provides a comprehensive supplier network to deliver high quality ICT solutions and services to education. Services available through the Framework include system design, hardware and software provision, training, implementation and ongoing technical support.
The Becta Framework is EU compliant, which means local authorities and educational institutions are free to conduct a mini competition among approved suppliers, reducing the cost and time of a full procurement. All services meet Becta's standards and specifications for Institutional Infrastructure and suppliers are monitored to maintain a high quality of service.
Becta Chief Executive, Stephen Crowne, commented: "This new framework is a key step in Becta's efforts to secure quality, consistency and value for money for schools and colleges. It will give education institutions greater peace of mind when developing their use of technology. They can be confident that these suppliers will provide affordable, reliable and coherent products which are sustainable over the longer term."
"The launch is an opportunity for us to meet the successful suppliers, emphasise the high expectations that we have of them and congratulate them on their achievement."
Editor's notes
The 16 suppliers are:
- Azzurri Communications Ltd
- Centerprise International Ltd
- Computer Systems in Education Ltd
- Egton Medical Information Systems Ltd
- Ergo Computing UK Ltd
- European Electronique Ltd
- Gaia Technologies Plc
- HBS Business Services Group Ltd
- Linetex Computers Ltd
- Northgate Information Solutions Ltd
- Ramesys
- Research Machines Plc
- Serco
- Stone Computers Ltd
- VT Four S Ltd
- XMA Limited
These companies had to clearly demonstrate their capability of providing Infrastructure Services to educational institutions through an intensive evaluation programme covering technical, commercial, value-for-money and quality assurance elements.
There has been full collaboration between Becta and Partnerships for Schools when considering how the Becta Infrastructure Services Framework will operate alongside the established Building Schools of the Future approach.
