Medellin, Colombia is using Citrix to revolutionize education for 400,000 students, reduce energy consumption and reinvest in their community.

1. Medellín, Colombia, uses virtualization software to bring
education to the farthest reaches of its community,
streamline costs and reduce energy consumption.
Read more on how Citrix helped Medellín evolve into
the most innovative city in the world.
WORK BETTER.

2. Anywhere Access:
Meet the New Medellín, Colombia
In February 2012,
the school district of
Medellín, Colombia,
implemented the
Digital Transformation
of Education Initiative
that launched high-
tech computer
classrooms
throughout the city.
Faced with high poverty rates,
Medellín needed a solution that
would have a large impact on
it’s overarching civic initiatives.
The city’s leaders believe that
a path to a better future lies
in technology. Therefore, one
of their major goals is to make
Medellín a global digital city by
the year 2016.
The Secretary of Education, Dr. Luz Elena Gaviria, selected Citrix to help
accomplish this goal and provide anywhere access to all of the schools.
The city uses Citrix desktop virtualization to deliver high-quality, cost-effective
programs to over 400 schools. Citrix®
XenAppTM
and XenDesktop®
allow
teachers to rely on a centralized datacenter to access the K–12 curriculum
and community outreach materials. It also means they can use older and
low-cost devices to enable lower-income or disenfranchised community
members to still have state-of-the-art materials in their homes and schools.
The Citrix model streamlines IT operations and has reduced energy
consumption by 25% per year. The schools have also cut electronic waste
by 50%, by doubling the effective life of computers in each school. These
cost savings are then redistributed to community education programs and
school improvement projects.
By selecting Citrix, the city of Medellín has taken a vital step in
accomplishing its civic goals. The platform has adapted to the city’s
unique needs while also taking their financial limitations into account.
More importantly, it has helped to revolutionize education in Medellín,
thus preparing its children to be citizens of the world.
“We were drawn
to Citrix because
we found they
understood us.
We were a team,
it became part
of the Medellín
community.”

3. “Citrix has become a very important tool at my school,” says Diana Franco, teacher at San Juan Bosco Educational Institution.
Since the implementation of Citrix virtualization software at her school, Diana is able to accomplish more with her students
because she spends less time keeping her computers working and she’s able to use less expensive equipment without
sacrificing effectiveness. “The Citrix advantage is speed and stability, knowing that if I need something on the 45 computers,
I simply have to install the software on one computer and then I have 45 stations that can access that information. Whereas
before that had to be done one by one, and it took a lot of time.”
Revolutionizing the classroom through virtualization software.
The geography of Medellín proved a challenge for the IT network. Citrix
helped develop a “node-based” cloud network built on XenDesktop
and NetScaler to ensure the delivery of virtual Windows®
desktops to
even the most remote parts of the community. A centralized datacenter
is connected to strategically placed “node schools” throughout the
city. Each of these “node schools” has additional local servers that
can provide virtual Windows desktops to other schools. If a “node”
goes down, connectivity is seamlessly provided by the rest of the
cloud network. This ensures that no school is without access to the
IT resources they need.
The resilient cloud network“Technology truly
breaks down
barriers. It makes
me hopeful for the
future of Medellín.”
NetScaler

4. Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the cloud company that enables mobile workstyles—empowering people to work and collaborate
from anywhere, easily and securely. With market-leading solutions for mobility, desktop virtualization, cloud networking, cloud
platforms, collaboration and data sharing, Citrix helps organizations achieve the speed and agility necessary to succeed in
a mobile and dynamic world. Citrix products are in use at more than 260,000 organizations and by over 100 million users
globally. Annual revenue in 2012 was $2.59 billion. Learn more at www.citrix.com/workbetter
“All 400,000 students have equal access to equal information.”