ICL, the information technology services company, has secured a £20 million sterling (€30.53 million) contract with Northern Ireland's five education and library boards. The 10-year deal will be implemented through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI). It aims to improve the efficiency of public service by employing the expertise of commercial services companies.

ICL will support all of the boards' accounting, payroll, human resources, office automation, and technology systems requirements. The new service will be supplied by ICL locally to 600 desktops at 24 sites across Northern Ireland's education and library boards.