There are 12 Regional Information Centers (RICs) in New York state, which are organized under the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). Typically, a RIC serves several BOCES within their region.
RIC Services
By regionalizing services, the RICs make a wider range of technology services available to school districts, no matter the size of the district. These relationships increase the buying power of a district and promote consistent technical standards.
RICs offer 21st-century classroom tools to optimize student achievement. Each RIC offers different services from one another and may support different products or vendors for these services. Collaboration on service and software contracts occurs regularly in the following areas:
- Administrative systems
- Data analysis, integration and verification
- Integration of technology
- Technical support
The Collective Value of RICs
- The RICs collectively support more than 95 percent of public school districts in effectively utilizing student management systems.
- The RICs partner with each other to support disaster recovery and business continuity initiatives.
- The RICs negotiate many contracts cooperatively in order to maximize efficiencies and economies of scale.
- All of the RICs assist providers in obtaining Medicaid reimbursement for eligible services through contracts awarded by the NY State Education Department (NYSED).
- The RICs partner with Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, to support the development of high-quality services.
- The RICs offer a statewide catalog of free professional development offerings.