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Compuware Wins Three Million Pound Contract with Rhondda Cynon Taf County
Borough Council
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New community portal to play a significant role in local regeneration
London, UK - 12th September, 2005 - Compuware (NASDAQ: CPWR), the software and services provider, has been awarded a £3.4m contract for the development and deployment of a community portal programme within the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in South Wales. The portal is being introduced as part of a key regeneration project in the area and will provide information, networking opportunities and services to the local community. The community is being directly involved in the process, from design through to completion to ensure that the portal meets their personal and community needs. The new portal will be branded 'Shape-it.org' and is being funded by the European Union Objective 1 programme and Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Regeneration Funds.
In the last few decades, Rhondda Cynon Taf has experienced the decline traditionally associated with mining regions, which is often coupled with social and economic deprivation, and is often linked to low levels of literacy and poor health. A range of initiatives have been undertaken in order to tackle these problems and are having a high degree of success, for example, steadily increasing grades achieved by those at school.
Shape-it.org will support and help build on these achievements, taking them to the next, ambitious level. As well as providing an outlet for community news and local information, Shape-it.org will host online information and service resources aimed at equipping citizens with valuable and transferable skills. Whilst the Council appreciates that the portal won't be a miracle cure, it does believe that such resources will make people in the region more employable and eventually play an important part in the revival of the local economy.
Citizens will be able to access the portal via home and work internet connections as well as through (up to 52) internet enabled Kiosks set up across the region in accessible locations such as Leisure Centres. A team of outreach workers have been employed to play an important role in driving demand for the portal by actively working with local community groups to identify, and supply, content for the portal. Up to 1,000 community groups within Rhondda Cynon Taf can be provided with dedicated PCs and wireless broadband connections. These groups, who have previously had limited access to ICT facilities, will now be able to author and publish their own content on the portal and share information with the whole community.
Outreach workers will continue to work with the groups throughout the project to help them generate this content, format it and upload it onto the site. Such support and training will be vital to sustain the portal and ensure that the content remains up-to-date, interesting and relevant to the community.
"Citizens will be responsible for portal content, so it is vital to engage them and make it feel like the portal is something that they have created. We are contacting local groups and speaking to individuals to find out exactly what information they would like to see on their portal and what would be most valuable to them. Local citizens are particularly excited about the internet based community TV station that will be integrated into the site as it will give them the opportunity to learn, share and give others in the region an insight into their local area," said Leigh Gripton, Service Director (Customer Care & e-Government), Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.
"We chose Compuware for a number of reasons - we were looking for a provider who could offer us management and integration of a complete solution, including vital community engagement support. Their experience and ability to manage other suppliers was extremely important, but most importantly, they appreciated our aims and objectives for Shape-it.org and instantly understood and shared our vision. They have offered us a flexible solution, which has meant that our vision hasn't been restricted by what the technology can support. Compuware's UnifaceView solution has helped us to broaden, rather than limit, what we want to achieve."
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council is working in close collaboration with organisations in the local area including colleges, Digilabs and schools to help citizens format their multi media content for the TV station component. Such content will also be re-purposed for digital TV access, accessible to Sky subscribers in the region. "This opens the door for new and exciting possibilities for individuals. We understand that it may be intimidating at first for some people, but we hope that they will see, and take up, the opportunities that the programme offers them," continued Leigh Gripton.
A prototype portal will be launched in September 2005 and will operate until December 2006, under the current funding arrangements, and the Council is already looking into options for sustainability and exploitation.
"We're delighted to be involved with the programme to help support and continue the regeneration of the Rhondda Cynon Taf region," commented Irene Dawson, Senior Vice President Compuware EMEA. "The portal will increase interactivity and engagement in the community as well as bringing citizens closer together. This is the largest project of its type in Wales, and we're proud to be involved in it."
Compuware will supply Rhondda Cynon Taf with a number of products and
services and will work with strategic partners to provide a complete solution.
Compuware's UnifaceView product will be used to build the portal. Also
working closely with Compuware and Rhondda Cynon Taf is IS Solutions who
will be producing the branding, design and marketing communications for
the project. Other partners include Genetics who will be providing their
Contensis content management system and Mizu who will be responsible for
the production and design of the internet based TV station. Compuware
will be responsible for managing the whole project but will also lead
on the design, build and test stages.
About IS Solutions
Established in 1985 and listed on the London Stock Exchange (ISL), IS Solutions Plc is a leading supplier of Data Feeds, Analytics, IT Solutions and Support, specialising in building and supporting customer-centric web and multi-touchpoint interactive solutions. Using a unique blend of marketing and technical expertise, IS Solutions have built over 300 solutions based around the Internet, WAP, DiTV and other touchpoints for 120 corporate clients. The Data Feeds business specialises in Financial and News real time and delayed feeds, with Analytics focusing mainly on interactive client side Internet usage. IS Solutions' clients include Toshiba, Toyota, Channel 4, The London Stock Exchange, English Nature and Marks & Spencer.
For more information visit: www.issolutions.co.uk
About Contensis
Contensis CMS is a powerful software solution that enables enterprise web content to be created, managed and published by non technical users with little or no training. This means that web sites can be kept fresh and up to date by anyone within an organisation, providing they have the appropriate permissions. The entire process is monitored and managed by administrators who can empower and control the contribution and editing of content, establish editing groups, set up authorisation privileges and grant publishing rights.
For more information visit: www.contentmanagement.co.uk
About Compuware
Compuware Corporation, a multi-billion dollar company, provides business value through software and professional services that optimise productivity and reduce costs across the application life cycle. Meeting the rapidly changing needs of businesses of all sizes, Compuware's market-leading solutions improve the quality, ease the integration and enhance the performance of distributed, e-business and enterprise software. For more information please visit Compuware on the World Wide Web at http://www.compuware.co.uk
Compuware is a registered trademark of Compuware Corporation. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Compuware is a member of The Prince's Trust Technology Leadership Group
(TLG), a premier industry networking forum for leaders within the IT industry,
established in May 2002.
For press enquiries contact:
Kewal Varia/Sophie Jarvis
Spark Communications
020 7357 8612
kewal@sparkcomms.co.uk
sophie@sparkcomms.co.uk
Compuware is a registered trademark of Compuware Corporation. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
