Case Studies - Larne Borough Council

Larne BC leads the way....with BT

Larne Borough Council is setting the pace when it comes to e-Government amongst local councils in Northern Ireland…thanks to a new ICT deal with BT. Local Government Account Manager, Denise Falls, together with e-Business consultant John McGinn, and Data Specialist Richard Taylor, put together the cutting edge deal which gives Larne Borough Council an innovative lead in local government technology.

The solution will bring the benefits of broadband to the council headquarters and includes Wi-Fi technology, which means that councillors in Larne will be the first in Northern Ireland to have access to wireless LAN in their council chamber.

It also means that Councillors and council staff will be able to connect to the Internet to access email and the web whilst on the move and at home. Thanks to the addition of GPRS cards, which slot into their laptops they’ll now have even more flexibility and control over their communications.

And BT will also host the Councillor’s email accounts and provide ADSL Broadband, firewalls and bandwidth management capability to the council offices. Council ‘minutes of meetings’ will no longer be paper–based but managed and distributed electronically using BT’s web based ‘Document Manager’, an effective e-Business solution which allows documents to be accessed and controlled from the council chamber, from home or on the move.

As part of the deal, consultancy and training were also provided to assist with the culture change which has helped to revolutionise the way business is conducted at Larne Borough Council.