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Fujitsu Builds 8,000 PC Thin Client System for Chiba City Board of Education

A first for a major city in Japan – employs virtualization technology to enhance security, reduce workloads and costs

Fujitsu Limited

Tokyo, July 26, 2011

Fujitsu today announced that it has worked together with the Education Center of the Chiba City Board of Education to deploy 8,000 new PCs to be used by all faculty and students at the city's 176 special needs elementary and junior high schools, in Japan. In addition, they have collaborated to develop the Cabinet Integration System, the first large-scale thin client system to be deployed by a major city in Japan.

Through the use of virtualization technology, the new system delivers convenience and improved efficiency by ensuring that when teachers are telecommuting, they have access to the same ICT environment used at school. Moreover, utilizing data that is stored on a centralized system enables enhanced security. The system also facilitates the effective usage of ICT assets by allowing the same terminals to be accessed by both students and faculty through separate ID input and card verification methods. Furthermore, as maintenance work for each PC can be performed remotely, the system helps reduce operations-related workloads and costs.

In the future, Chiba City and the Education Center will continue promoting the use of highly-secure ICT in education, while at the same time aiming to provide teachers with more time to attend to their students by integrating ICT into academic affairs.

Background

Since 1999, Chiba City has been working to upgrade its information network, Cabinet (Chiba City Abundant Information Network). By overhauling and enhancing the on-campus LANs at its 176 special needs elementary and junior high schools, Chiba City has promoted the advancement of information technology education, as well as the improvement of work efficiency through the integration of ICT into academic affairs. At the same time, Chiba City has also been exploring ways in which to further enhance its ability to prevent the leakage of personal information. In taking these steps further, Chiba City has collaborated with Fujitsu to develop the Cabinet Integration System thin client system.

The new system employs approximately 3,000 of Fujitsu's FMV-TC8390 thin client PCs for use in course instruction and academic affairs. These PCs operate via a virtual desktop environment, and as such, data is not saved directly onto the PCs but is instead stored on servers for educational use at the school and on a centralized system. Meanwhile, at the schools' computer laboratories, roughly 5,000 ESPRIMO D550/B network booting thin clients have been deployed. These computers provide an ICT environment that supports students' individual learning.

Overall Structure of the Cabinet Integration System

Larger View (43 KB)

In lieu of transporting the personal information of students—such as their addresses, names, and grades—home on a USB memory stick when telecommuting, teachers can access a centralized system from their home PC via a VPN connection using the new Cabinet Integration System. As a result, teachers can work from home using the same ICT environment employed at school, thereby ensuring both enhanced security and improved convenience.

Through card verification and other technologies, faculty can also take care of administrative work from the teachers' offices via terminals that are used for course instruction during lesson time, enabling effective resource utilization. Furthermore, maintenance on PCs which previously required visits to each school can now be centrally performed from the Education Center, helping to lighten operations and maintenance work loads while cutting costs at the same time.

On the new system, the virtual desktop environment for faculty includes SA@SCHOOL, a groupware package that promotes communication between teachers, as well as the SA Academic Affairs System, a full-scale web-based academic administration system that keeps track of students' performance. By taking full advantage of the new system's features, the schools now have the ability to standardize their academic processes and enhance data safety.

During the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, Fujitsu worked with numerous schools that had been temporarily transformed into evacuation centers in an effort to provide residents with Internet access for obtaining information. Based on this and other usage examples, the new system has the potential to be employed as an effective tool for gathering and spreading information during future emergencies.

In the future, Chiba City will continue promoting the use of highly-secure ICT in education, while at the same time aiming to provide teachers with more time to attend to their students by integrating ICT into academic affairs.

Through the delivery of system support and up-to-date information, Fujitsu will continue to support Chiba City in ensuring stable system operations and a high level of convenience.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Over 170,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com

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All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

This press release has been revised as of December 17, 2018.

Date: 26 July, 2011
City: Tokyo
Company: Fujitsu Limited, , , , , , , , , ,