3Com networks CITC

The recently established Community IT Centre (CITC) in Welkom is the first of what will eventually be several regionally based training and resource centres for developing communities across the country.

The vision for this development came from the Foundation for Future Leaders, a NGO started in 1993 to motivate developing communities and provide a platform and channel for the otherwise neglected potential of the unemployed.

Under its president, Bishop Simpson Ngcizela, the Foundation aims to answer the needs of the post-liberation "lost generation" by encouraging leadership, self-confidence and skills orientation with realistic and pragmatic approaches to solving problems among township communities.

It was quickly realised that technology could be used as a powerful tool for achieving these goals, provided that the equipment and training could be brought to the people through the medium of CITC organisations.

This resulted in the formation of the Welkom CITC, under project director Dr Kwamen Kubweza, with major support from the British government, the Free State provincial government, Anglogold and leading IT companies such as Dell Computers, Microsoft and 3Com.

"Projects such as the CITC are more likely to succeed if they are driven by broad-based partnerships of the various stakeholders from the private, public and community sectors," says Dr Kubweza. "The prevailing chronic global shortage of IT professionals means that industry players must form working strategic alliances in order to close the IT skills gap. The 3Com/CITC partnership is a product of this thinking."

3Com SA CEO Buddie Ceronie has backed the initiative to the hilt and committed a significant amount of 3Com resources to the design and development of the CITC network infrastructure.

"We believe that our efforts will highlight the possibilities that exist within disadvantaged communities for education and skills transfer," he says.

"There is a critical shortage of trained technicians in the IT industry at present and, through the CITC initiative, we hope to bring more IT companies on board to address this problem."

By September 1999, the CITC had grown from a single training room facility to three training rooms. The success of the project stimulated demand, from increasing numbers of users, for the volume and variety of the services to be increased. To do this effectively called for a total re-design of the infrastructure to equal the standard enterprise systems and network concepts commonly found in medium to large IT organisations.

This plan included a new architecture to support up to 200 networked PCs with multi-user Internet access and e-mail services through the integration of the network with cost-effective telecommunications services. Other requirements included external access to the chosen Internet service provider (ISP) and connectivity to other centres with solid security features as well as remote access services (RAS) to enable technical support staff to remotely diagnose and solve network problems.

The network equipment provided by 3Com included the same components found in a sizeable corporate system: desktop/edge switches, a core switch, network interface cards (NICs), a remote-access server and network management software.

A total of 17 SuperStack II Switch 1000s with 12-port connections are the edge devices supplying fast Ethernet (100Mbps) bandwidth to local groups of PCs. The core switching is provided by a SuperStack II 3300 with dual-speed capacity (10/100Mbps), which has the advantage of supporting up to 16 VLANs (virtual local area networks). 3Com NICs, which support DynamicAccess software to assist in balancing the load of network tasks across multiple servers, form another vital link.

Other 3Com contributions include OfficeConnect NETBuilder 142 and SuperStack II Remote Access System 1500, which provide essential connectivity both within the network and to external systems at distant sites. There is also the Transcend Network Supervisor for Windows, which is an SNMP-based (simple network management protocol) software capable of discovering and identifying up to 500 IP nodes and their links to draw up a graphical topology map of the network. This enables easy troubleshooting for the network administrator.

The aims, objectives and work of CITC highlighted the need for a solution that provided performance at a reasonable cost. This was critical in applying the selection criteria, which also included concerns that the chosen partner would be a constructive participant in the CITC project and provide a sound network which had the flexibility for future growth.

"The 3Com solution came top in all counts," says Dr Kubweza. "The solution was superior in all aspects and still allowed maximum room for growth."

There were some other aspects to 3Com`s contribution as well.

"The partnership offer was way beyond expectations," Dr Kubweza continues. "3Com supplied the network solution free of charge. They had also launched a programme called NetPrep, in 1998, for closing the skills gap for network engineers. Their approach in the NetPrep programme bears a striking resemblance to that of the CITC and, as from this year, we will be one of the first centres in Africa to deliver 3Com`s NetPrep programme."

The plan is to replicate these centres throughout the nine provinces in South Africa, with the Welkom site the core of the operations.

Dr Kubweza points out the important contribution that 3Com has made towards achieving this goal. "The infrastructure provides the perfect base for linking the planned centres. Our trainees are now exposed to a level of technology that is very rare in institutions of this type, giving them an advantage when they qualify at the centre."

The immediate successes include a course run for 400 unemployed people, 70 percent of whom have found jobs in the IT industry and eight of whom have started their own businesses. Another example was a 20-week long course for matric pupils, 12 of whom are now going on to tertiary IT studies and 15 of whom have already found employment in IT.

Other advantages include the ease of installation, facilitated by on-site support from 3Com, and the built-in administration features that provide a strong base on which to build establish future extensions of the network.

Within the next three months, a second CITC will be launched. A VPN (virtual private network) will be established between the centres, which will depend on the remote access features. 3Com has also donated the communications equipment for this new centre and a third centre is also planned for later in the year.

On the education front, the CITC is currently working with nine high schools to establish computer labs.

3Com`s NetPrep programme as well as CITC IT Competence Courses will be introduced in the curriculum. Four or more of these schools will be operational before the end of 2001.

"To this end, CITC may consider future implementation of the CoreBuilder 3500 Layer 3 High-Function Switch," says Dr Kubweza, pointing out other equipment that will support future upgrades. "Another example of Fast Ethernet to Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 switching migration is the SuperStack II Switch 3900/9300 family. The above are only some examples of a wide variety of stand-alone, stackable and chassis-based solutions 3Com can offer for scaling into the future without sacrificing today`s investment."

The ultimate goal is to make the CITC project self-sustaining by offering services and training to developing businesses. This will provide a revenue channel to ensure that the ongoing IT training and upliftment of communities can be continued.