Alan Thompson, managing director of hi-impact discusses how LCR Connect will deliver the connectivity schools across the Liverpool City Region have been crying out for, delivering cost effective high speed, high quality services to a sector that is facing increasing pressures on its already squeezed budgets.
Tell us about hi-impact and how it is helping children to embrace technology?
Headquartered on The Wirral, hi-impact was established by teachers who wanted to influence education beyond the classroom. The team has spent more than a decade using their teaching and technological expertise to further support and improve all facets of the school curriculum.
Specialising in the delivery of creative, tech-centric workshops, few subject areas have experienced more organic growth than that of ICT – which continues to be an incredibly popular and important area of the curriculum, as well as hi-impact’s services.
In addition to curriculum work, hi-impact also specialise in technical support; using their engineers to help establish, monitor, maintain and – through a partnership with Exa Networks – enhance internet services for numerous schools across the North West.
How important is technology and connectivity to the education sector?
As the prominence of technology, computing and ICT in education has continued to increase, so has the demand for internet usage.
This has resulted in many schools across the region becoming more and more reliant on the internet to deliver core components of their curriculum.
With the demand now so high, schools throughout the Liverpool City Region have experienced a variety of difficulties, including but not limited to; connectivity problems, low bandwidth, budget constraints preventing installation, and lack of accessibility due to location and/or infrastructure.
How will LCR Connect support education?
With the emergence of distance-learning as a viable alternative to physical attendance, many schools are beginning to place more strain on their connection and are quickly outgrowing their internet capabilities. Unfortunately, when coupled with decreased budgets, an investment at this time into a leased line would be difficult.
We and our internet solutions partner, Exa Networks believe that LCR Connect is an exciting and ambitious project which will help totally reshape and enhance digital infrastructure for schools throughout the entire Liverpool City Region; not only providing a fairer market for schools who seek reliable internet provision, but also one which is affordable, suitable, and future-proofed.
To find out how schools can benefit from LCR Connect’s full fibre visit: www.lcrconnect.com/contact or email hello@lcrconnect.com