In the coming years, the New South Wales Department of Education (Australia) will be embarking on a new initiative that will see more than 240,000 netbooks put into the hands of local high school students. Let’s think about that for a moment. Brand new Lenovo netbooks put into the hands of perhaps the most hostile group of computer users on the planet! Ok, so that might be overstating it a little but nonetheless, as an IT Manager, I can’t begin to tell you of what a logistical nightmare this could become.

This initiative has been funded under the Federal Government’s Digital Education Revolution initiative, which aims to upgrade classrooms in order to further education across all subjects through the use of ICT Equipment. As quoted from the Digital Education Revolution website …

“Information and communications technology is no longer just another subject taught by schools, it is a means of learning across all subjects – from English, mathematics and science, to the humanities, technical and applied studies, music and visual arts.”

“Schools will be able to apply for grants up to $1 million to revolutionise their classrooms with new or upgraded ICT equipment. This could include personal laptops, thin clients with virtual desktops, and internet network infrastructure to plug our schools into the information superhighway.”

Firstly, I would like to just say ‘Bravo’ to NSW Department of Education and the Australian Federal Government for recognizing the importance of computers and related technologies in the classroom. Such initiatives would certainly be welcomed here in North America. To my knowledge, no such initiative exists on such a grand scale as seen in Australia. NSW has dedicated a portion of their website to discuss this initiative and to provide resources for both students and teachers.

So back to our ‘logistical nightmare’. The plan is to rollout more than 240,000 netbooks to students in the next four years. Students will receive netbooks in grade 9 and will be able to keep these netbooks until grade 12 or even permanently should they successfully complete their studies. Before receiving a netbook, the student and the student’s parent must sign forms acknowledging responsibility for the netbook and usage. Each netbook will come equipped with Windows 7, Microsoft Office, Adobe CS4 Creative Suite, iTunes and other software geared towards students.

So how do you track, maintain and control so many netbooks? NSW’s approach is not entirely unique but does serve to highlight how business and corporate IT departments should manage their netbooks, laptops and other equipment.

Each netbook is embedded with tracking software at the BIOS level of the machine. Each machine is then tracked, authenticated and given access to the network wirelessly through the use of several platforms and technology. Lost or stolen netbooks can be disabled remotely through the network. This will effectively make the netbooks useless to unauthorized users, even if components are swapped out such as the hard drive. All netbooks are bar-coded and are equipped with an RFID chip, making it easier to track and maintain each netbook.

In order to ensure netbooks are being used appropriately, each netbook utilizes technology at several levels to ensure that only trusted content is being accessed. Locks are placed to ensure that additional software can not be installed and each machine is supported by the latest anti-virus software. Each device is upgraded and patched remotely through the network.

Since August, NSW has distributed over 20,000 netbooks. Of these, only six netbooks have been lost or damaged and no major issues or outages have been reported.