Shared network drives collaboration

Gwent Network Neighbourhood Design (GNND), an organisation created by eight public sector bodies in the county, including Gwent Police Authority, is to use the Public Sector Broadband Aggregation (PSBA) network as its cross-sector shared service communications network.

This will bring together the largest multi-agency multi-sector group on a next-generation IP-based public sector network (PSN) in the UK. The five-year £14 million contract will provide GNND members with high-capacity secure and scalable network connections across a range of connectivity options and is capable of delivering a full suite of voice, video and data services.

Led by the Welsh Assembly Government, the PSBA is the UK’s first public cross-sector shared services network and is managed and funded by the user organisations. The PSBA is delivered as a managed service by Logicalis UK as part of a seven-year contract worth £74 million, awarded in 2007 with the Welsh Assembly Government.

By aggregating demand for high-speed connectivity on a single platform using virtual communications technologies, the PSBA network creates cost-efficiencies coupled with infinitive possibilities for collaboration.

“This collaboration of the eight multi-sector public bodies has enabled the extension of the first PSN of this scale,” commented Steve Harding, chairman of GNND and assistant director of informatics for Aneurin Bevan Health Board.

“There are other projects being developed in other locations but none that match the scale or ambitions of the GNND. Ultimately, the network will provide the catalyst for significant change across current processes and organisations.”

The PSBA is designed to offer accredited secure communications services to public service organisations in Wales, with multiple security levels applied to meet individual needs.

It demonstrates the suitability of public sector network services to drive collaboration between services and ultimately deliver efficiency savings across information and communications technology (ICT) and service delivery.

Mr Harding added: “The PSBA offers a national information and communications platform that meets the specific needs of the Welsh public sector, creating opportunities for collaborative working and information sharing that previously weren’t available on this scale.

“The GNND is the first regional consortium to take advantage of the economies of scale created by the PSBA and provides a clear signal that Wales has built a next generation public service network that meets the requirements of all major agencies and public services.”

Carmel Napier, chief constable of Gwent Police, expects her force to benefit from the information sharing aspects of the arrangement. She told publicservice.co.uk that other police forces could learn from the PSBA initiative and that she expected Gwent to save around £2 million from joining.

The reduced costs from the PSBA will help make Gwent’s budget stable and predictable for the contract term.

A managed wide area network (WAN) service, controlled by Gwent Police and provided by the PSBA, will also result in key staff spending less time on low-level network maintenance tasks.

Other benefits include:

•Selectable bandwidth provision to remote sites allowing upgrades to be requested based on current and any future requirements.

•Removal of ‘daisy-chained’ connectivity. For example, at the moment if a hub site closes then all the sites connected to the WAN through that hub would also need to have their circuits reinstalled, incurring additional costs. The flexible design of the PSBA solution would remove that problem.

•The opportunity to separate traffic across the network through multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) so that, for example, if police staff or officers needed to be co-located at another organisation’s premises that has an existing PSBA circuit, the network can be configured to enable a se