Norfolk's PSN certification success

Norfolk County Council (NCC) has completed the government's Public Services Network (PSN) 'On-Boarding' process.

With a little help from its supplier, BT, the council is one of the first to successfully gain PSN Certification for its network environment and supplier PSN services - and one of the first councils to connect to the government's 'network of networks'.

Norfolk sees the move to PSN as "a catalyst for innovation across the county - giving it opportunities to transform working practices and above all improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its services for Norfolk citizens".

Kurt Frary, ICT architecture manager at the council, said that the milestone underpinned the Norfolk ICT Strategy. "We've set out to exploit and embrace PSN at the earliest opportunity, because it's going to simplify the way we interact with other government agencies. We're already working with BT to explore opportunities across Health, Fire, Police and District Councils - each of which could save us money and improve collaborative working."

PSN is seen by many as the foundation to the Government's ICT Strategy. It aims to provide an assured network for sharing services - including many GCloud services - as well as encouraging efficiency and collaboration across public sector organisations. Norfolk's PSN certification covers corporate voice and data services, which have been managed by BT since 2003. The converged IP Connect broadband network links around 20,000 staff at some 700 sites.