Microsoft £5m freebie plugs RNLI IT budget hole

Microsoft is waiving the fee for the Royal National Lifeboat Association's (RNLI) software licences as the charity prepares to complete two lifesaving technology initiatives.

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The move will cut the charity's software spend by £5m over the next three years, with the economic downturn expected to mean lower legacy donations for the RNLI, and therefore a smaller pot available for the IT budget.

The association is currently managing two technology initiatives with Redmond software.

The first is a core information management and dispatch network called Systems and Information Management System, which is used to provide operator information to lifeboat crews on the association's fleet of Tamar class all-weather lifeboats.

The other main project on the go at the RNLI is the Man Over Board Guardian, an initiative which includes the roll out of a boat location system based on GPS tracking to 1,500 fishing craft and other vessels.

The location system, which went live in November 2007, has already saved five lives and is in the process of being rolled out to all RNLI lifeboats.

In a statement, RNLI chief executive Andrew Freemantle said: "[This donation] will help us weather the storm that we along with many other charities are facing. We are bracing ourselves to be full hit next year when the impact of reduced share and house prices on the value of legacy gifts - upon which we are so dependent - is expected to become apparent."