The Ministry of Local Government was constantly moving offices locations. In 2001, they were in throes of purchasing a new building at the Domes at Hagley Park Road. Project manager, Pam Thompson was commissioned to modernize the ministry’s infrastructures and particularly as it relates to the Ministry of Local Government, she was challenged to create a ‘model’ ministry. She chose to begin the process by upgrading the technological system available at the new location. As a result, she chose Copia Wireless communications was solicited to assist her with the task.

The Challenge
Faced with the fact that the Ministry is always changing locations it made good sense to give them a solution that would accommodate the changes and also look aesthetically pleasing. Light bulb – Wireless! Furthermore, from time to time there were contractual workers that were employed to the ministry, who did quite a number of work on their laptops. They would often inconvenience the other staff members by using the ports that were available. With the initial ‘model’ ministry conceptualization, the government thought that the Ministry of Local Government would be the first the implement the “flexy- time work schedule,” which would allow staff members to work from home as well as the office. This meant that, staff members living within radius would be able to access the existing local area network at the ministry.

The Process
The Ministry of Local government had over two hundred PCs which needed to be leveraged and linked with the internet service that was already available-this quantity was in addition to the laptops owned by the contractual workers who were associated with the organization. In this case, Copia Wireless did not offer the internet services used by the ministry which already exist inside the older of the two buildings on the premises instead; they provided the wireless networking solutions that addressed their inter-connectivity need to and within the new building. For those computers that were not compatible with the wireless system, stacks of wireless cards were provided for them.

The Solution
Outside Micronet SP918GL was used to create a wireless bridge between two buildings which were owned by the ministry of local government. The older building was previously wired. These buildings were on the same premises. Inside the buildings, SP918s were place at strategic points to create a wireless coverage.

The Benefit
Creating a wireless network provided the ministry with a greater level of flexibility. The contractual employees were able to get onto the internet and the local area network without having to plug into a port- which would have been the case had it been wired. “The greatest advantage” according to Project manager Pam Thompson “was the fact all 200 computers were linked at an inexpensive cost. Had it been cables running, it would have cost the ministry so much more over the long-term. Aesthetically, cables running to the various computers and offices would have been quite unsightly; wireless facilitated a clean office ambiance.” Steady growth in productivity was enabled since information was easily shared and accessed from the local area network. In addition, there was a marked improvement in interoffice communications even if the person or persons are not in office at the time. Above all, the system would not be affected significantly by an impromptu change in location.

Summary
The wirelessly networked Ministry of Local Government became the first government organization to be fashioned. As a result of its “e-friendly” approach and proactive use of communications technology, the success of the project triggered chain reaction within the government authorities and led to a number of other government agencies improving their organization, implementing MIS units. So much so, that Copia Wireless was once again called upon to network the southern Regional Health Authority, the Mandeville Regional Hospital and a number of others. Copia Wireless Communications has been instrumental in bringing most of Jamaica’s major organizations to new technological heights.