Digital conference delegates celebrate achievements of pioneering IT partnership

IN 2006 Barnsley Council and Bull formed a groundbreaking joint venture company, Bull TCL, to manage the council's information technology operations, and to compete for IT support contracts in the wider world.

Early successes including substantial efficiencies under the government's efficiency agenda, and the securing of commercial contracts worth several million pounds, laid the foundation for improvements in both council services for Barnsley residents and further economic development in the borough.

Furthermore, Bull has invested in a new, state-of-the-art data centre in Barnsley because it sees the business opportunities being created as the borough embraces digital technology. To mark the official opening of this facility at Pontefract Road, and to discuss how businesses can benefit from digital investment, Bull’s chairman and chief executive Didier Lamouche travelled from Paris to the Digital Media Centre at County Way.

Didier Lamouche said: "This is the first time I've visited the Digital Media Centre and I'm very impressed. There are very many places that would be delighted to have such a place. The event itself, The Future is Digital, Digital is the Future, was very well organised and the attention it has attracted is shown by the fact I have spoken this morning to delegates from Fife, York, and elsewhere. Bull TCL - the partnership model between Barnsley Council and Bull - is a pioneering one. This conference gives us the chance to look at what has been achieved over the last three years and we can now see concrete results. This is very satisfying to see."
 
Barnsley is at the heart of a new superfast broadband network which will cover 97 per cent of South Yorkshire’s domestic and business properties and put it at the forefront of digital technologies. The high-speed service is seen as vital to developing the region's economy. The high speed network is being built by Digital Region in partnership with technology company Thales UK. Digital Region is wholly owned by Yorkshire Forward and the four local authorities of South Yorkshire, who attracted investment of over £90million, including £30million from the European Region Development Fund.

The Digital Region network will also attract inward investment and enable the delivery of more effective public services. Building work began recently and with a phased implementation programme will be available in some areas from the end of the year, and completed in 2012. Once in place the network will bring a broadband service with speeds in the region of 25Mbit/s to 550,000 homes, 40,000 businesses and 1.3 million people in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

ENDS