Five hundred public sector organisations in north Yorkshire will be connected to a single high-speed network as part of a major shared services initiative.

North Yorkshire County Council has teamed up with BT to deliver NYnet, which will allow schools to share applications and online seminars, while child protection services will be able to collaborate better with police and share information.

The network is the second phase of a major open access broadband infrastructure project, which began in 2006, boosting the area's broadband take-up to above the national average.

It is a forward-thinking initiative that will be an important boost for North Yorkshire, said David Cullen, chief executive of NYnet.

"This project will significantly help us achieve our principle objectives of supporting and enhancing the economic prosperity of North Yorkshire while improving the speed, reliability, security and future-proofing of the virtual private networks to our customers,” he said.

The project is putting North Yorkshire at the forefront of shared services, said Mark Quartermaine, managing director,of BT government services.

“The government has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to promoting the concept of shared services. For many councils, this remains a medium- or long-term target. In North Yorkshire however, it is a vision that is to ready to come to life. North Yorkshire has become one of the country’s shared service pace-setters,” he said.