Bechtle and HP drive Grand Est region’s Lycée 4.0 Project
Illkirch Graffenstaden, 21 December 2021 – First launched in 2016, project Lycée 4.0 continues to make strides. For the first term of the 2021 school year, the Grand Est government has commissioned Bechtle and its partner, HP, to supply notebooks to high school students in the region.
- 71,000 HP notebooks and bags delivered to 352 high schools in the Grand Est region in just four weeks
- Successful collaboration despite the pandemic and choppy economic waters
- Optimised range of products to advance the region’s large-scale educational project
A long-term project to prep high-school students for the future
With the Lycée 4.0 programme, the regional government aims to provide every student in Grand Est with equal access to an HP 245 G8 notebook, including all text books and other digital resources.
First initiated in late 2016 together with the region’s educational authorities, the project gathered significant momentum in 2019 with the decision to equip every high-school student with a notebook free of charge, for them to keep even after they have left school.
With 217,885 high-school students in the region, the government has released significant funds for the purpose and has so far delivered 71,000 notebooks.
International capability with a local touch
Bechtle is proud to have supported the Grand Est region in realising the project, which is carried by a shared set of values, namely equal opportunity and investing in tomorrow’s talent.
For Jean Rottner, president of the Grand Est region, the partnership is a perfect reflection of the region’s strategy. “This partnership helps us keep our promise to the young generation—a free computer to make their lives easier today, and prepare them for their careers of tomorrow. We are all the more pleased as Bechtle has helped us navigate the difficulties associated with the strain on international supply chains without putting a strain on the families living in Grand Est.”
“This project illustrates Bechtle’s commitment to regional projects and stimulating local economies just as much as supporting national institutions with our dedicated teams of specialists for the public sector,” explains Franck Gentzbittel, Managing Director, Bechtle France.
Bechtle is putting a premium on local proximity, collaborating with service providers in the region and, notably, by setting up a customer service team in Mundolsheim (Bas-Rhin).
A digital work tool by HP
HP is a key player in education technology, particularly in the Grand Est region. Since the manufacturer is also a long-standing partner of Bechtle, the collaboration of the three partners was an obvious decision to make for the rollout of 71,000 computers to students in the region, who in September received their HP 245 G8 notebooks (Full HD, 128 GB SSD, 128 GB SD card), marking a big step forward for the Grand Est region’s education project as a whole.
“We are very proud to be providing students in the Grand Est region with notebooks specifically designed for education This kind of project would have been impossible to pull off without the close and trusting relationship between the regional authorities, as well as with Bechtle as our long-standing partner by our side,” says Rodolphe Delahaye, Director of Regional Sales, HP France.
All in time despite international constraints
A shortage of components, a pandemic putting public health at risk, clogged supply chains and more have challenged everyone involved in the project. All the same, everyone was focused on making sure both teachers and students are fully equipped at the start of term, meaning the devices had to be delivered in September. No small feat, but by pooling their strengths, the Grand Est region, Bechtle and HP have successfully delivered on their promise and in a matter of less than four weeks delivered notebooks to 71,000 students in 352 Lycées 4.0.
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About Bechtle.
Bechtle AG has 80 system houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Its 24 e-commerce subsidiaries across 14 countries make it one of Europe’s leading IT companies. Founded in 1983, the company is headquartered in the southern German town of Neckarsulm and currently employs over 12,000 people. Bechtle provides more than 70,000 customers from the industrial, trade, financial and public sectors with a comprehensive, vendor-neutral portfolio that covers all aspects of IT infrastructure and operation. Bechtle is listed on the MDAX and TecDAX indexes, and in 2020 earned approximately 5.82 billion euros in revenue.
Bechtle France is headquartered in Illkirch-Graffenstaden. The company was founded on 6 March 2000 and is led by CEO Alain Baselga. In 2020 it achieved revenues of €113 m and employed 105 staff.
Find out more at: bechtle.com/fr