News Release

Technology Leaders Band Together for Singapore National Day

Communications for National Day Parade enhanced by collaborative wireless network from Bluengine, Cisco Systems and Microsoft
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Jul 27, 2001



SINGAPORE -- 27 July 2001 -- At the 36th Singapore National Day celebrations on 9 August 2001, Parade organisers will enjoy greater collaborative communications over a wireless network set up by Bluengine, Cisco Systems and Microsoft.

This will allow them to communicate faster and with less hassle, through mobile and integrated solutions and devices. For the first time, the Parade at the National Stadium will be co-ordinated via a shared web site using a wireless broadband network.

The wireless broadband network will enable the National Day Parade (NDP) team to communicate anywhere at any time. Normally, team members would rely on the telephone to check or update information. When a task was completed, a team member would call and inform the command centre, and the message would then be relayed to the others via telephones. At this year's Parade, team members need only log on to access the web site to get instantaneous updates of information.

Designed and set up by Bluengine using technologies from Cisco Systems and Microsoft, the wireless broadband network will connect 25 computers located at the various NDP command centres. The computers are linked via Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points and Cisco Aironet Wireless cards. Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft SharePoint Team Services and Microsoft Office XP will enable command post personnel to update their activities, consolidate change and disseminate information in real time.

The Cisco Aironet Wireless access points have a range of up to 200 metres, while the high-speed network is capable of transferring data at a rate of up to 11,000kbps, compared to the standard 56kbps for conventional modems or 1,500kbps for cable. The Cisco Aironet Wireless cards act as antenna for radio waves which send and receive information between the network and the computers.

The solution provided by Microsoft enables the team members to work from and contribute to the documents anywhere and everywhere within the wireless coverage through the SharePoint Team Services. It allows multiple users to access the shared website together at any one time and is able to reduce the time and effort to co-ordinate tasks implemented by various teams, making communications more efficient and productive.

"The objective is to make communications as efficient as possible. The wireless network will reduce duplication of effort and speed up the exchange of information by providing a central self-service database which is always available and up-to-date, so that team members are informed at all times instantly and simultaneously wherever they are," explained Major Michael Chua, who heads the NDP wireless project team.

"On the morning of National Day we will have only four hours to get the network up and running. We will need a combination of technology, teamwork and military discipline to make the operation a success," added Major Chua.

According to the NDP wireless project team, the main criteria for choosing the solution from Bluengine, Cisco Systems and Microsoft were fast deployment and retrieval, the ability to support collaboration, calendaring and file sharing, plus security and broadband performance.

"The NDP network is a tremendous example of how Internet technologies are impacting our lives," said Bill Chang, Managing Director of Cisco Systems Singapore. "The combination of Bluengine's expertise with leading-edge solutions from Cisco and Microsoft brings a new dimension to the tireless efforts of the organisers. We are proud to be able to play a role at the National Day Parade."

Said Ms Natasha Kwan, Managing Director, Microsoft Singapore, "As we get together to celebrate National Day, we want the most important event of the year for Singapore to run efficiently and at its optimal level of productivity. With Microsoft software, we hope to be able to redirect some of the resources to better usage through efficient use of technology and software."

The wireless network is sponsored by Bluengine, Cisco Systems and Microsoft.

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