Drenthe is also noticing the consequences of the major fire at a data center in Almere last week. For example, students and teachers at the Alfa college in Hoogeveen cannot use the WiFi network, even though exams are now scheduled. However, a solution has been found.
Transport is arranged for students coming from Hoogeveen and the surrounding area. “Students from the Hoogeveen region can come to the Alfa college in Hoogeveen and from there they can go to the central location in Emmen,” says Johan Grevink. He is the training manager of the Alfa-College in Hoogeveen. So the exams will continue as normal from tomorrow.
“We have done our best to allow the exams to go ahead. We do not want students to be delayed and this has now been prevented. The emergency team has handled this well,” Grevink adds.
It is not only students who suffer from the unavailable network. At first it was not possible for teachers to get coffee and printing at school was also made impossible.
Hospitality teacher Tiemen Doeven therefore had to make the necessary adjustments for his profession. Normally the students receive the recipes that need to be printed, but now an image of the recipe was used on a telephone.
“I have my own database of recipes. They then take a photo of it and can view it while cooking. You have to switch quickly when you come in and there is no WiFi, but it does make you creative.”
The students were therefore allowed to use their telephone, something that is normally not allowed. “The students are allowed to use their phones today, that’s just the way it is. Yet I notice that it is not that disadvantageous and all prescriptions have been approved,” says Doeven, laughing.
Student Deymian experienced little inconvenience today. The student will have less confidence in the coming days. “Tomorrow we only have class on laptop, so I think free is the best option.”
It is not yet entirely clear when the problems will be resolved. “We have good contact with those involved and have good hopes of being back in the air on Wednesday,” said Johan Grevink.
Not only the Alfa college had problems, Univé and several Drenthe GP practices were also victims of the fire in Almere. According to IT specialist Frank Bloupot, a wise lesson can be learned from the incident in Almere, although he does not know all the ins and outs.
“We have become very dependent on data centers and we have to realize this. Five years ago this was much less and in five years it will be much worse,” Bloupot explains.
According to Bloupot, people should respond more to these types of incidents, despite the fact that such a fire is also unfortunate. “You must always have a plan for these types of events. Compare it with a fire drill, people always try to prepare well for that. It is useful if this is also done for these types of cases, for example.”
It is still unclear whether the fire will have long-term consequences.
