Project description:

BNP is an ongoing collaboration between SEBS-North America and BNKS to provide intranet as well as internet connectivity to all the computers within the school campus. The project would complement the Learning Resource Center (LRC) currently being built by the school which will house a computer Lab equipped with more than fifty computers for use by staff and students. By supporting the infrastructure to interconnect all these computers as well as all the computers provided by the school to the various departments and houses, BNP hopes to increase productivity, collaboration and efficiency. Students groups, for example, would be able collaborate on a project from different locations. Teachers on other hand would find it easier to work on a document in a common folder rather than on multiple versions of the same document at home and office. The infrastructure would also pave way for having records online, secured and more easily accessible. By adding internet connection to the fray, BNP hopes to greatly expand the capabilities and resources provided at the school and move it towards the globalized and interconnected world we live it today. With a large number of successful SEBSers willing to contribute to the alma mater, and a large number of members working in the field of computers and networking, there could not be a better time than now to embark on a project like this.

BNP came into being as result of a series of communication between the current SEBS-NA excomm members and BNKS. In the past nine months, three excomm members visited the school on separate occasions and consulted with the teachers on various ways SEBS-NA could be of help to them. In all these meeting, the consensus was that a computer network would be of great value to school. Based on the feedback we got, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was drafted in August. According to the MoU SEBS-NA would start off with providing technical and financial support for the intranet. Upon successful completion of this phase, we will move on with providing the internet connectivity although communications are already underway with various internet service providers in Nepal to provide internet at discounted cost to the school. The school has also been highly supportive of the project and has assigned a team of vice-principals, and chief administrative officer led by Mr. Atiram KC to facilitate the project.

SEBS-NA has collaborated with Vianet Communications, Kathmanduand conducted a technical survey , in September 2007, to determine the feasibility and estimated costs for the project. Anup Manandhar (988A) who is the COO of Vianet Communications, conducted the survey in early September and listed the equipment needs and costs. He has also been helping us in soliciting bids from vendors. Based on initial estimate, the cost of the project stands out to be USD 5,500. The running cost of internet access in the subsequent years will be evaluated at a later date. In order to promote transparency and lower costs, bids from at least three vendors are being sought and evaluated.

Goals:

The purpose of this MOU is to establish the framework of collaboration between SEBS-NA and BNKS in order to implement a network interconnecting the computers within BNKS.

The scope of the project can be divided into two phases:
i) In the first phase, the computers belonging to the Head of Departments (HoDs), Head of Houses (HoHs), the Library, the LRC, and administration offices are to be connected via a secure network. All the computers in the network should be able to designate a shared folder, in which data (reports, grades, etc.) can be transferred and accessed from any computer within the network. A separate secure folder which can be accessed only with a valid password can also be implemented for sensitive information, such as exam papers.
ii) In the second phase, and after successful implementation of the first phase, the network will be expanded to all the residential computers at BNKS (including computers provided by school to teachers in teacher’s flats and computers in other areas such as the clinic and the accounts office).

The timeline of the completion of the project would be agreed upon at a later date pending on successful fundraising by SEBS-NA, selection of capable tech team, and agreement with BNKS.

Meanwhile, SEBS-NA and BNKS will be exploring the option of connecting the aforementioned network to the internet; however, the access to internet is not in the scope of this project. Similarly, SEBS-NA will be planning for fundraising for computers for donation to LRC, but donation to computers will not be within the scope of the project.

Deadline: