Through the targeted use of funding combined with the right expertise, the Hanseatic city of Stade has turned its 16 schools into model schools for the digital pact. In close co-operation, the system house ‘CCV Computer Vertrieb’ has been responsible for equipping and supporting the school IT for many years. Managing Director Stefan Hesse explains the challenges of the major project and why he relies on firewalls from Securepoint for IT security in the Stade schools.
The Hanseatic city of Stade, which has a population of around 50,000, is responsible for external school matters as the school authority for twelve primary schools, one secondary school, one intermediate school, one integrated comprehensive school and one secondary school - from the provision of school buildings and secretarial staff to the selection of furniture and technical equipment.
As a local authority, Stade also has the task of improving the digitalisation of schools. A total of over seven billion euros in funding will be available by the end of 2024 from the federal and state governments under the ‘Digital Pact for Schools’ for the nationwide development of modern digital infrastructures in Germany's schools.
This raises crucial questions for a local authority: what are the basic requirements for digitalisation and what equipment is specifically funded and under what conditions? The decisive factor for Stade when it comes to school digitalisation: As the school authority, the town relies on the external expertise of an IT system house for its IT.
‘We support school digitalisation from planning to implementation’
‘Since 2014, we have been fully responsible for the schools' IT and technology as a service provider for the Hanseatic city of Stade. We support school digitalisation from planning to implementation and have been working closely with the city for years,’ says Stefan Hesse, Managing Director of CCV Computer Vertrieb, explaining the successful large-scale project and explaining the reasons for the collaboration: ’It has not worked for a long time for teachers to also maintain the IT systems at their school. The decisive factor in the digitalisation of schools is not the purchase of technology, but active maintenance and support, such as regular updates and troubleshooting.’
The school department of the Hanseatic City of Stade commented: ‘Long before the digital pact, we at the Hanseatic City of Stade saw the urgent need to focus on the digitalisation of our schools - and to provide the necessary funding. As a result, digital media has met with broad acceptance. Because only if you can rely on the highest possible availability of digital media will lessons be geared towards this and the media be included as a matter of course.’
Riensförde educational campus in Stade as a flagship project
The flagships in Stade are the integrated comprehensive school (IGS) with 1,100 pupils and the Riensförde education campus, which was launched in August 2023 and includes a primary and secondary school for a total of up to 1,152 pupils. At a cost of over 72.5 million euros, the education campus is the largest investment project in Stade's history. The city's sponsorship is thus expanding to 16 schools - and with it the tasks of the North German IT service provider are also growing.
‘The entire system house is fully involved in the project. We are on site several days a week to maintain the systems and our good relationship with the city and the schools,’ says Stefan Hesse. Hesse continues: ‘As part of the digital pact, we as a service provider have analysed the requirements and defined a clear standard that must be implemented for the schools as required in terms of good IT security.’
An additional reason for the successful design of the school digitalisation is another close collaboration - that between CCV Computer Vertrieb and the German IT security manufacturer Securepoint. Stefan Hesse says: ‘We have had a great deal of trust with Securepoint for many years and rely on their solutions in the schools out of conviction,’ Hesse explains the cooperation and continues: ‘We wanted to use a system for the project that we are one hundred per cent familiar with and that we trust. When digitising the schools in Stade, the focus was on the acquisition of IT technology, such as tablets, and on protected networks. The use of firewalls and a good content filter were clear objectives. After extensive testing with other providers, the Hanseatic city of Stade and CCV jointly decided to rely on the German manufacturer for IT security.’
Achieving the goal with strict grid separation
According to Hesse, it all started at IGS Stade with a Securepoint RC1000 UTM firewall for 1,000 users. The field test was set up in close coordination with the manufacturer's project support. Important components for the school's IT security were strict network separation and a secure connection to the IServ school platform. The approximately 1,100 pupils and 100 teachers are thus securely connected to the protected network.
Three separate networks (pedagogical network, iServ connection and school WLAN) ensure that the daily use of 1,200 iPads and other mobile devices is structured and secure. ‘We have massively reduced the size of the networks. This allows us to avoid the constant, loud background noise in the entire network,’ says Stefan Hesse and explains what is possible with the new technology at IGS Stade: ’The firewall helps to route the printers completely for everyone in the network. The ventilation system has its own network. The caretaker can already view and control the entire building technology, i.e. ventilation and heating, on a tablet via the school WLAN. This can also be implemented for solar and alarm systems.’ The possibilities for the future of school digitalisation are great and a driving force for Hesse: ‘The digitalisation of IGS Stade is constantly being expanded. We are coordinating closely with the school and tackling this together. The school relies on our expertise as an IT service provider,’ says Managing Director Hesse. The system house's claim: ‘People always take centre stage and the technology should not slow them down, but support them.’
Hanseatic city of Stade a role model for school digitisation
The successful test run at the IGS Stade was the starting signal for the digitalisation of all 16 Stade schools, including the Stade mega-project Bildungscampus Riensförde. As part of the digital pact, the Hanseatic city of Stade has received around 1.8 million euros in funding for the digital equipment of its schools. Which equipment is eligible for funding varies from state to state.
Stefan Hesse assesses the importance of the project with regard to the digital pact: ‘The Hanseatic city of Stade is in a great position when it comes to school digitalisation and takes great care of the schools. All schools have interactive whiteboards. An estimated 75 per cent have digital screens or panels in use. Everything is securely networked, including comprehensive Wi-Fi and digital class registers and substitution plans. In my view, these are 16 model schools of the Digital Pact, as they have unique equipment.’
‘The digitalisation of our schools is both an opportunity and a challenge,’ reports the administration of the Hanseatic city of Stade. ‘It is an opportunity because digitalisation enables us to manage schools more effectively and because it is the prerequisite for teaching pupils the skills and knowledge that are absolutely essential in an increasingly digital world. Digitalisation is challenging because it requires specialists in areas such as IT security. We are therefore delighted to be working with CCV following a corresponding tender. The company helps us a lot with its easily accessible, expert contacts.’
The system house sees the successful school digitalisations as prime examples of less bureaucracy and faster processes - and as an opportunity to further expand its own area of responsibility. ‘We are not pure Securepoint experts, but we are of course well trained for this, as well as for iServ or Windows. All employees in the system house have to know everything. We are real IT all-rounders, whether it's resetting a milking robot on a digitalised farm, setting up a hotel's locking system or an error with the POS system in a restaurant. This variety of topics is a great challenge and makes the job really exciting,’ says Stefan Hesse.
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Phone: 04777 / 931 341
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