Thales Australia and the Australian Department of Defence have commenced a trial of thin client technology from Citrix under the Next Generation Desktop (NGD) program.

Instead of multiple terminals for different networks, users will benefit from de-cluttered workspaces with one computer, one keyboard, one screen and one mouse, enabling simultaneous access to the Defence Restricted Network and Defence Secret Network on the same screen.

The pilot program is part of a planned future rollout across Defence, using thin client technology to replace traditional desktops, which will substantially reduce hardware, power and sustainment costs for Defence, generating long term Strategic Reform Program savings.

Matt Yannopoulos, Chief Technology Officer, Department of Defence, said: “This pilot program supports a major Defence ICT reform initiative.  The pilot has proven the technology is capable of meeting our needs and has offered learnings for implementation design.”

The pilot program is being conducted at multiple Defence sites around Australia in order to show that the required functionality can be provided to the end users regardless of their location. The pilot has so far successfully demonstrated that a Server Based Computing solution can deliver a stable, responsive desktop with all of the expected capabilities, including printing.

The prime contractor is Thales Australia and other partners including Raytheon Trusted Computer Solutions (RTCS), Microsoft and Citrix.