LGNet and LGRC Your Local Government eCommunity In partnership with

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LGNet and LGRCYour Local Government
e-CommunityIn partnership with
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Strategically what is LGNet?
LGNet is the enabling infrastructure for the
local government e-community to collaborate and
share knowledge and information to improve
decision making in support of service delivery to
our local communities
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What is LGNet technically?

• A network community for the 284 Municipalities,
  Provinces, LG Associations, Central Government
  Departments, etc.
• An Internet Standards based Virtual Private
  Network (VPN) over Telkoms network backbone
• A central high speed communications node at the
  DBSA providing access to all the Servers and
  Services from the edge security routers
• A managed and secure WAN comprising remote
  security routers at the Local Government nodes
• Hardware software technologies to enable the
  communications hub and information portal

Your local government e-community!
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Misconceptions about the LGNet!

• The LGNet is not an ISP -Telkom SAIX is the ISP
  for LGNet
• Membership of the LGNet does not cost
  municipalities anything it is a free local
  government community service
• It is not an open network, but rather a Virtual
  Private Network (VPN)
• We do not have an ISP or VANs license from ICASA
  therefore cannot carry commercial traffic
• LGNet is connected to the GCCN via a gateway
• Various stakeholders have been invited to be
  members (e.g. SALGBC, IMFO, etc.) as they can
  provide valuable information to the community

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LGRC Portal is

• A secure information repository/store for Local
  Government information and knowledge
• Consists of a single physical Portal with a
  number of logical/virtual content sites owned by
  the various stakeholders
• Includes a document management system to manage
  content creation, editing and publishing
• Is accessed using web browser technology

Lets share and integrate the silos of
information!
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Is this relevant to Municipalities?

• From the usage statistics it appears to be the
  case!?!
• The key going forward is to continue to provide
  relevant and topical content
• We need to know what you want to know over and
  above what we provide
• This is why we invite content providers to join
  the e-community

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LGRC GIS Systems

• Common need of all local authorities
• Has two components, Local National data
• Partnered with SAISIS, CSIR, SITA, SAC, Surveyor
  General DWAF to supply national data sets
  component
• Aim is to provide access to National GIS data
  sets as well as satellite and aerial photography
• Currently a Pilot running with 9 municipalities
• Need to provide simple end user GIS tools
• Focus is on sustainable GIS systems

Lets share data and reduce costs!
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Possible deployment of the GeoPortal
Simple GIS client?
Source CSIR Feb 2006
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July 2006 - 213 Municipal 27 other stakeholders
240 applications in Total
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LGNet Siyenza Manje July 2006
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Interesting LGNet Usage Statistics

• As of 1st September 2006 there were 2957
  registered users from the 208 connected
  municipalities (36 still being connected)
• For the first 6 Months of 2006 the LGRC received
  151,073 information request hits
• For August 2006 209Gb of information was
  downloaded off the internet by municipalities
• 75 of inbound e-mail into the LGNet is dropped
  by the mail management tools as it is SPAM/Junk
• Peak traffic days are the 25th 26th of each
  month

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LGNet - Packeteer 1 Outbound traffic for last 3
months
LGNet- Packeteer 2 Outbound traffic since
installation
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local.gov.za Domain

• Sub domain of the gov.za domain
• Standard to help public find municipal sites
  easily
• Need to address the Municipal Systems Act
  requirement that all municipalities have a web
  site to publish their Financial Statements, IDPs,
  etc.
• Web Site Hosting service has been added to the
  LGNet internet access DMZ
• Content management system will allow
  municipalities to manage their own web sites
• Municipal Links on hosting server will be
  automatically provided to existing municipal sites

ltmunicipality namegt.local.gov.za
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Enhancements to LGNet

• To accommodate Information Knowledge sharing
  focus and generally improve the user experience,
  we have or are upgrading the network as follows
• Upgraded all installed routers with new firmware,
  memory and firewall software
• Upgrading Internet access link from 2Mb to 4MB
• Upgrading storage capacity of portal to new
  maximum capacity of 45Tb
• 2 Packet shapers have been installed to manage
  bandwidth eliminate unwanted traffic (e.g. Peer
  to Peer)
• ISP class Netcache installed with Webwasher to
  remove undesiable content
• Piloting 2 X ProofPoint e-mail management and
  security appliances to help remove SPAM, Viruses
  and Spyware from the network

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Strategic emphasis for LGNet/LGRC

• Continue focus on creating a Local Government
  e-community for information and knowledge sharing
  
• Network to become an access point for knowledge
  sharing initiatives and resources via the LGRC
• Provision of socio-economic data/information
• Focus on Project Consolidate Municipalities
• Continued emphasis on GIS data and
  Satellite/Aerial photography provision (Spot7 due
  in November)
• Shift energy away from ISP type services to
  content, but these will still be offered to those
  that require it
• Strategizing the impact broadband wireless
  (WiMax) and Metro Ethernet for 2008 and beyond

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Positioning and segmentation of wireless
broadband technology in perspective
Source IDC, 2006
Wireless offers many obvious advantages, in
particular that the networks can be rolled out
over a short period of time, with a greater
coverage area, and a lower capital expenditure
cost. Key is follow the standards!
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WiMax and mobile cellular product standards
commercialisation time line
Source IDC, 2006 Note WiMax ? WiFi as they are
different technologies
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Common Issues we encounter at Municipalities
during operation

• Critical lack of ICT and in particular networking
  skills!!!!!!
• There is still a serious shortage of basic
  equipment (i.e. PCs) Digital divide hampers
  access to information!
• General user skills at municipalities are poor
  and an investment must be made in training and
  computer literacy
• Municipal LANs in particular in the rural
  municipalities are in poor shape (i.e. old, not
  managed, riddled with viruses, etc.)

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LGNet and LGRC
Questions?
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LGNet Installations July 2006 District
Municipalities

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LGNet Installations July 2006 Local
Municipalities