Tasmania asks for help on NBN

The Tasmanian Government has put out a call to the information and communications technology industry for suggestions on how to best use the National Broadband Network and Digital Education Revolution for the students of the state.

David Bartlett
(Credit: Tasmanian Government)

"We want to broaden our thinking on the benefits these initiatives can create by working with the ICT industry," Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett said in a statement.

The state's Department of Education is asking its current hardware and software suppliers as well as the broader industry about potential technologies and services which will enable the NBN and new student computers to be as useful as possible.

"With the implementation of the National Broadband Network there is potential to look at the way we provide education services in a different way," Bartlett said.

Students could further their studies without leaving remote areas and could collaborate with other students via video conferencing, he said.

The new computers being funded by the Digital Education Revolution, which aims to see each student from years nine to 12 kitted out with a computer, also created possibilities for students, he said. "I hope that we can work with the ICT industry to seize the opportunities available."

Tasmania's preferred computer resellers and vendors are Lenovo, Acer, Apple, ComputerCorp, Nextbyte and IRIS Computing. It uses Anittel (formerly PKBA) and Cisco for networking equipment. Anittel and Hewlett Packard are the preferred vendors for servers and printers.

Vendors were to highlight opportunities they believed could be achieved by new technologies or services and indicate any trials which they wanted the government to fund. Expressions of interest close at 2pm on Friday, 4 December.

The first Tasmanian portions of the National Broadband Network are tipped to go live mid next year. The distribution of computers to schools is already well underway.