Tuesday 8 December 2009

Smart Card Funded Trials

The SCNF has been asked by DWP to identify candidate authorities to undertake a trial of applications linked to concessionary smart cards.

DWP is looking for one, maybe two authorities to undertake funded trials of these smartcard applications. The trial criteria are as follows:

1. A good size cohort of older people
2. A Smart Card initiative that can use the existing ENCTS concessionary pass
3. A data base to record activity and impact
4. Activities and concessions for older people
5. Some innovation especially linking National and Local entitlements to getting people active
6. Advice and guidance off the back of the card scheme
7. Engagement with isolated or inactive groups
8. Impact and testing in both Urban and Rural environments .

If you wish your organisation to be put forward to DWP, please sign up to the Forum (if not already a member) and request an application form by emailing chair@scnf.org.uk. We need responses by 16/12/09.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Saturday 14 November 2009

Successful Transport Workshop

The SCNF Transport event last week was a further success for the forum with a packed room of attendees from Local Authorities, London Councils and Central Government.

The workshop was arranged to explain the LASSeO standards for multi-application encoding on Desfire cards and discuss how it could be implemented. Mick Davies introduced LASSeO and the process of developing and maintaining standards. Owen McLaughlin explained the origins and scope the standards. Over 20 different applications were mentioned during the course of the workshop! Nicky Kaye gave the perspective of Bracknell Forest who have a multi-application concession card.

Gwyn Williams introduced the implementation guidelines which have been prepared and proposed cards should have at least basic encoding when issued. The implications of having multiple numbers on the card was discussed (ie transport and entitlement). Copies of the draft were circulated and feedback requested during and after the meeting. A final copy will be published on the website.

Steve Beecroft concluded the event by leading a discussion about the business case and scope for reducing/sharing scheme costs. Michael Murray from DWP announced an event for Local Authorities which they are planning for 3rd March 2010 – an important date for the diary.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Thursday 22 October 2009

SCNF Transport Workshop

The SCNF has received an excellent response from Local Authorities for the Transport Workshop on 11th Nov in London. Places are being taken up rapidly.

At the meeting members will be discussing the implications and opportunities when authorities start issuing concessionary passes on the Desfire smart card platform. As most authorities appear to have chosen this card type as the successor to Mifare which starts to be phased out in January, it is possible to plan for other applications and the wider use of the concession card.

The workshop will cover the background to the changes, specification for encoding Mifare cards, applications supported, implementation guidelines, learning from existing schemes, business case implications and testing facilities. A number of existing multi-application schemes will be represented, so we expect a very informative exchange of ideas and experience.

There are limited places at the workshop which are already 60% taken up, which is very encouraging. For more information, see the website and email events@scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Friday 9 October 2009

Smartcard Specification for Multi-application Published

At last week’s conference in Cambridge, SCNF announced to its members that the LASSeO (Local Authority Smartcard Standards e-Organisation) specification has been ratified for the Phillips Desfire card type which most Transport Executives are intending to issue from January.

In 2010, concessionary card holders could be using their transport smart card to access services
at their library, leisure centre, community centre and town hall.

Ron Hetherington from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and SCNF Treasurer remarked: "Local Authorities have been holding back on the development of new applications for their smartcards because of uncertainty about the de-facto industry standard. Now that an industry specification has been developed, Local Authorities will be able to push forward their smartcard strategy more confidently.”

Following a technical agreement between ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation)
and LASSeO last month, LASSeO has published their specification for encoding multiple
applications on a transport card. The specification includes basic cardholder information, cash
collection, parking, identity, e-purse and entitlement.

For more information about the specification, SCNF plans to run a workshop in London on 11th November and the new specification can found on the following public page:
http://www.scnf.org.uk/nscp.html

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Monday 5 October 2009

Excellent ID and Libraries Event

Members of the SCNF enjoyed one of the best events we have run according to their feedback. Our members were among 250 attendees at the RFID Europe event in Cambridge last week.

The programme was compact yet encompassed 8 well informed speakers who all had new information and ideas to share with our audience. We are indebted to Axiell for sponsoring the event.

Members learnt about DWP's planned support for smartcard application trials, research outcome from Yorcard (DfT sponsored), Hillingdon scheme early results, Dudley RFID implementation, LASSeO agreement with ITSO on encoding concessionary passes for multiple applications, Lord Erroll on ID security and Dr John Gill on special needs applications.

Those present also had an opportunity to give their views on future SCNF events and initiatives to help SCNF members.

SCNF members can access all the presentation and feedback from the event at www.scnf.org.uk. For further information on the SCNF, please email chair@scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Friday 18 September 2009

SCNF Identity & Library Event

SCNF members will be joining RFID Europe on 30th Sept in Cambridge for an important networking event and the first to hear from:
  • Project Manager - Hillingdon First Card launched in June 2009
  • Department for Work & Pensions - sharing best practice in supporting an ageing society
  • West Yorkshire PTE - results from DfT sponsored research into Multi-application cards
  • Lord Erroll - views on protecting personal identity in a networked world
There are only a limited number of places available.

Public Sector employees are invited to register and attend the event free of charge. For more information about the event see the SCNF website (www.scnf.org.uk) and RFID Europe (http://www.idtechex.com/rfideurope09/en/). The venue is on the edge of town and has sufficient parking for delegates.

To register for your free place, you need to become a member of the SCNF (go to www.scnf.org.uk/join.html) and email events@scnf.org.uk requesting your place. We will send confirmation and answer any queries by return.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair
Smart Card Networking Forum

t: +44 (0) 1483 772241
e: chair@scnf.org.uk
w: www.scnf.org.uk

Please follow our blog at http://scnfchairman.blogspot.com

We also Twitter at http://twitter.com/SCNF

Friday 21 August 2009

DfT Ticketing Strategy Consultation

Yesterday, DfT issued its consultation on Ticketing Strategy which is due to conclude at the end of October. This is a very important exercise for all organisations involved in public transport, concessionary travel and service improvement initiatives. The SCNF already has a sub-group focussed on Transport and will be considering the questions raised and arrange a SCNF meeting before the consultation closes.

I have extracted a few lines from the DfT press release which can be found at:
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/Content/Detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=406006&SubjectId=2

Paper travel tickets could become a thing of the past under proposals announced by the Government today. New technology, enabling mobile phones to double up as "swipe and go" cards and bank cards to be used to pay directly for journeys could revolutionise how travellers purchase and use tickets according to the new consultation. The Government estimates that the benefits of universal 'integrated smart' ticketing could be as much as £2 billion per year through improved journey times and faster, more convenient and reliable purchasing and use of tickets, with benefits for local government and operators too.

Central to the vision is the implementation of smart ticketing infrastructure using the Government backed ITSO specification to allow seamless travel between, and within, cities and regions; and different modes of transport. We could see the end to waiting in line at ticket machines, while buses could spend half the amount of time sitting at the bus stop waiting for people to board and looking for the right change.

DfT consultation also refers to joining up services through using smartcards for other products such as library membership, leisure centre entry, benefit entitlement, parking, bike and car hire, and even lift share arrangements.

Jonathan Bray, Director of the Passenger Transport Executive Group Support Unit said:
"We fully share the Government's ambition to see smart ticketing introduced across Britain's largest urban areas as soon as possible. Oystercard has become intrinsic to London life - passengers have a right to expect a similar deal in the next tier of major urban areas.
"We look forward to continuing to work with Government on the reform of bus subsidies that's currently underway to help make this happen."


Please let us know the points SCNF should discuss and look out for arrangements to discuss a response from SCNF.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Sunday 16 August 2009

Hillingdon First at RFID Europe Event

The recently launched Hillingdon First scheme has been rolled out to 150,000 residents and is already used as a library card, to obtain discounted parking rates and local business loyalty card.

Darryl Wallace, Project Manager for the Hillingdon scheme will be speaking at the SCNF stream of the RFID Europe event about the introduction of the card and particularly its use as the new libary card for new and existing borrowers.

For more information about the event, see the website or email enquiries@scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

SCNF & CRM Integration

Local Authorities are continuing to invest in Customer Relationship Management to improve customer service delivery and some are on a second round of replacement and upgrade.

SCNF is planning to run an event during November which will focus on the synergy and integration between CRM and resident card schemes. This will particularly interesting for Local Authorities considering introducing a resident card scheme.

We are currently speaking to potential sponsors and case studies for the event.

For further information and contributions to the event, please contact the Core Group or email enquiries@scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.,uk

Thursday 16 July 2009

Building a society for all ages including Active 60 Package

The following is taken from the Building Britain's Future website...

As a country we are living through an enormous demographic change. This has now reached a tipping point with pensioners outnumbering children for the first time. A quarter of all children born today are expected to live to reach 100 years old. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity. Building a Society for All Ages is the Government's strategy for how we as a society make the most of this change. It develops the Government's 2005 strategy, Opportunity Age [DWP website] which has now largely been delivered. It builds on a solid foundation of recent reforms to the pensions and health systems for older people.

The strategy is available online in PDF from the BBF website. This strategy already draws upon extensive debate and discussion over the last year. It's publication now marks the next stage in the process towards our goal as we start a national debate about how we can make it a reality. If you would like to be involved in this debate then visit our consultation page.

Posted by SCNF.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair

http://www.scnf.org.uk/

SCNF at RFID Europe - Libraries and ID Management

The Smart Card Networking Forum is running a public sector stream at the RFID Europe conference on 30th Sept in Cambridge. This year we will focus on libraries and personal identity.

SCNF members are invited to register and attend the event free of charge. For more information see the SCNF website (www.scnf.org.uk), RFID Europe (http://www.idtechex.com/rfideurope09/en/) and email events@scnf.org.uk. The venue is on the edge of town and has sufficient parking for delegates.

Aside from the whole programme on RFID technology, there will be a presentation by Dudley Council on their use of RFID and the event is sponsored by Axiell (formerly known for the DS Galaxy library management system). This is an excellent event to find out about the use of RFID technology for loan items, smart memberships cards and cashless payment.

The public sector stream will also include a speaker from DWP about meeting the needs of an ageing society, an update on technology which makes it easier for partially sighted to use library computers and Lord Erroll talking about the requirements and risks of identity management in society.

I am confident you will find this a very interesting programme which will be complemented by the opportunity to network with other forum members and sponsors of the Forum.

Spaces are limited, so please let us know if you are interested in joining the event. You are also invited to register on the SCNF website so you can access all of the forum information and keep up to date with news and developments.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair
Smart Card Networking Forum

t: +44 (0) 1483 772241
m: +44 (0) 7785 361551
e: chair@scnf.org.uk
w: www.scnf.org.uk

Please follow our blog at http://scnfchairman.blogspot.com

We also Twitter at http://twitter.com/SCNF

Wednesday 1 July 2009

SCNF Website - Case Studies & Searchable

We have now completed the final stage of the new website which includes an area for case studies and ability to search the whole site. You will also see more current news and links to events on the front page. Follow this blog for the latest news.

For the first time you can see links to all the case studies covered in past SCNF events at www.scnf.org.uk/case.html. Case studies include transport, payment applications,

These case studies and the other outputs on the website are also searchable, so you can enter a theme, technology or application and find relevant information and examples. Why not give it a try and tell members what you find.

The programme for the SCNF stream at RFID Europe is taking shape with speakers from DWP, House of Lords and a Library Service. To register for the event email chair@scnf.org.uk. More details to follow.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Wednesday 24 June 2009

LASSeO Desfire Specification

Local Authorities issuing smartcards for transport (eg concessionary fares) are seeking guidance on which type of card to use and how to encode for multiple applications when they can no longer issue Mifare cards (ie after 31st Dec 2009).

Several SCNF Members and Sponsors support the Local Authority Smartcard Standards e-Organisation which is responsible for and maintains the specifications for encoding Local Authority smartcards. The current Mifare 4K specification is published on the SCNF website www.scnf.org.uk/nscp.html and has been adopted by the majority of concessionary fares schemes in England and many of the multi-application resident cards.

As concessionary schemes stop issuing Mifare cards, as required by ITSO, LASSeO is preparing an equivalent specification for the alternative Desfire card type. The specification is being prepared by SmartCitizen and sponsored by Bracknell Forest Council. This specification is undergoing final review before being published for use by Local Authorities and their suppliers.

The SCNF Core Group has set up a working group to plan how to disseminate guidance to Local Authority members and other smartcard issuers. The new LASSeO Desfire specification will be published on our website and a meeting is being planned for September to discuss the implications and opportunities for Local Authority schemes.

To receive updates on this initiative, please ensure you are registered as a SCNF member.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Saturday 20 June 2009

Feedback from Pre-Paid09

Pre-paid09 marked another success since our re-launch. Over 35 people took part in the main Public Sector session which ran in parallel with a transport stream attended by other local authorities. There was a lively debate around the business case, media and applications.

In the masterclass we split into two groups, one discussed the use of pre-paid debit while the other covered low value e-purse. We will publish notes to members in due course.

Mastercard has become very active in this area and at short notice added a Pre-paid in Government workshop to the programme. This introduced some very interesting case studies from outside the UK. In future events we well press the organisers to bring these sessions together and publicise in advance. I am sure more members would have wanted to attend if they had know the range of topics being covered.

Look out for details of next event in Cambridge 29-30 Sept 09.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Thursday 18 June 2009

Football Stadia Survey

Consulting Smart Ltd is conducting a short survey about football stadia on behalf of a client. The survey is just 5 questions mostly multiple choice and will only take 2-3 minutes to complete. It is also completely anonymous but if you do choose to provide your email address in the last question it will only be used for the purpose of updating you on the survey result. The survey can be found at http://www.eSurveysPro.com/Survey.aspx?id=b13e688c-281b-401a-8b97-a5453a2d88d0

We hope that you can find the time to help us and complete this survey which could help select the type of technologies you will see in Football stadia all over Europe in the coming years.

Steve Beecroft

Co-Chair Smart Card Networking Forum

See www.scnf.org.uk

Monday 15 June 2009

SCNF at Pre-Paid09

Public Sector attendees at Pre-Paid09 will have the opportunity to find out about and discuss alternative payment applications which can be readily added to a resident card.

Payment is no longer just about paying for school meals. During the Masterclass and panel discussion, you will learn about rollout of the sQuid e-purse in Scotland, the G2G Mastercard pre-paid card in Cambridgeshire and other pre-paid applications. You can find about the uses of a payment applications and practicalities of rolling out on a resident card.

For information about the event and to receive the post event report, contact chair@scnf.org.uk

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

www.scnf.org.uk

Tuesday 19 May 2009

SCNF New Core Group - May Meeting

The newly elected SCNF Core Group that oversees the forum met earlier today to review progress on the re-launch and plans for the remainder of 2009.

The first task was to elect the Chair. Steve Beecroft & Kevin Farquharson had offered to continue as Joint Chair and were elected. Steve & Kevin took over the forum lead in November 2008 to see through the re-launch of the Forum which is now largely complete. The expectation of the Core Group is that a Local Authority representative will take over the lead in due course.

With a strengthening financial position, 15 active sponsors and events planned out into 2010, the Forum is well placed to respond to the needs of a growing membership. The Forum is free for public sector and not for profit organisations to join.

One of the first new initiatives is to setup a working group to understand the implications and prepare some guidance on changes occurring in Transport. The working group will be looking at the current DfT consultation on concessionary fares, the transition from Mifare cards in December and forthcoming DfT consultation on ticketing strategy. For further information or to contribute, please check the website, follow this blog or email the chair@scnf.org.uk.

The next Forum event is a masterclass session at 10am on 17th June at the Pre-Paid 09 event. See the website for details.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

See www.scnf.org.uk

Thursday 14 May 2009

Smartcards take up in Schools

We have undertaken some supplier research and discovered that use of cards and cashless catering in schools has grown dramatically from around 10% of schools 5 years ago to over 60% of secondary schools in 2009. Figures are difficult confirm as no one agency covers all service providers or institutions. Take up varies by area (eg most of Surrey schools, but far fewer in many London boroughs). What is take up in your area?

Given the levels of investment, range of applications and number of pupils and staff involved, further research may be warranted.

For more information about School and Youth applications, you can now find all the presentations and a summary in the members area.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

SCNF at Retail & Transportation Cards May 09

SCNF presented a summary of Local Authority schemes which involve transport and retail use. At the same event, delegates received an ITSO update, project manager's update from Yorcard project and insight into the Liverpool 08 card. Presentation will be in the members area next week.

A quick audience poll gave some interesting results:
  • 100% in favour or multi-application cards
  • 10% identifed with a local authority role in issuing an e-purse
  • Few felt there was a synergy between ID cards and local applications

Look for details on forthcoming events. Places are going fast for masterclass at Pre-Paid 09. Go to www.scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson

Co-Chair SCNF

www.scnf.org.uk

Monday 11 May 2009

SCNF Blog now publishes via an RSS feed

All,

One other way you can follow this blog is if you use an RSS reader (such as Google Reader). To subscribe to the RSS feed then please click on the following link or cut and paste it into your browser:-

http://scnfchairman.blogspot.com/rss.xml

Thanks to Leigh Garner of Thames Card Technologies


Hope this helps!

Steve Beecroft

Co-Chair

Smart Card Networking Forum

t: +44 (0) 208 123 0811

m: +44 (0) 7855 364493

e: chair@scnf.org.uk

w: www.scnf.org.uk

We also Twitter at http://twitter.com/SCNF

Saturday 9 May 2009

Pre-paid Masterclass

The SCNF has a great offer for its Local Authority members who can join a SCNF masterclass on Pre-Paid in Transport, Low Value Payment or Personalised Care and attend the Pre-Paid09 event for free (numbers are limited).

During the sessions, delegates will be joined by experts in the field and have the opportunity to discuss issues and challenges in implementing these applications alongside transport and other smart card applications. The sessions will also include briefings on case studies of both EMV and e-purse applications. The objective is to help delegates discover how they could implement pre-paid in their service areas.

One of the first Local Authority pre-paid card is the Cambridgeshire G2G card (see www.g2gcard.co.uk) . This scheme has recently won an award for payment card schemes and will be one of the case studies discussed.

To attend, you only need to register on the new Forum website and send an email requesting full event details. If any commercial organisations are interested in attending, we have a discount offer for the delegate package.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF
www.scnf.org.uk

Thursday 7 May 2009

DfT Ticketing Strategy

Following close behind the DWP study into an ageing society, DfT is launch a consultation about ticketing strategy next month.

The SCNF Co-Chairs had an early meeting with the DfT team to identify some of the local initiatives which have delivered multi-application cards. We shared our impressions from recent meetings of local authorities' outlook and expectations.

When the consultation is announced, we will make members aware so you can raise questions and provide input to the DfT process. We would strongly encourage members and sponsors to engage with the consultation. We look forward to hearing the outcome of the exercise.

At our next event on 17th June, we will have a workshop session on payment cards in transport.

Kevin Farquharson & Steve Beecroft
Co-Chairs SCNF
see www.sncf.org.uk

Friday 1 May 2009

SCNF at Pre Paid 09

At Prepaid 09, SCNF will be running parallel masterclasses on Prepaid cards for low value payments, Transport and Personalised care. During the sessions, delegates will be joined by experts in the field and have the opportunity to discuss issues and challenges in implementing these applications. The session will also include briefing on case studies of both EMV and e-purse applications. The objective is to help delegates discover how they could implement pre-paid in their service areas.

SCNF will be inviting sponsors and industry experts at Pre-Paid to join the masterclasses.

Saturday 25 April 2009

SCNF Schools & Youth Event Success

The Schools and Youth event was very well received by attendees on Thursday and we are very grateful to Thomas Deacon Academy for hosting the event. An event report, presentations, pictures and possibly some video will be posted in the members area.

In addition to finding out how cashless catering, access control and e-registration are becoming core systems in our secondary schools, attendees heard the latest feedback from youth card projects in Sunderland, Bolton, Scotland and London. Of particular note was the uptake in incentive schemes for target groups, use of pre-paid purses on cards and schools transport tracking system.

In the resume of year, we asked for thoughts on future events and activities. The response was:

  • Transport and transition from Mifare card types
  • Payment applications (good - next meeting)
  • Workshop sessions on application areas
  • Event hosted at LA with operational scheme
  • Business Case
  • Data integration approach in multi-app scheme
  • Influencing decision makers

If you ideas or input for future events, take a look at the website, comment on the blog and let us have your feedback.

Kevin Farquharson

Co-Chair SCNF & Event Chair

http://www.scnf.org.uk/

Monday 20 April 2009

Improving the Outcome for Children in Care

One of the themes of the SCNF Schools & Youth event is how smartcard technology can be used to improve the opportunities and to remove the stigma for children in care. The meeting on Thursday will cover a number of initiatives and proven approaches to make it easier to target financial support at those in greatest need. The case studies from Bolton and Sunderland cover two initiatives to help children in care and from poorer backgrounds to participate in more activities, while other examples will show how free school meal entitlement can be administered without identifying those benefiting. A number of the current initiatives recognise that the needs of Looked After Children extend well beyond their 16th birthday and provide benefits for this vulnerable group through into their early 20s.

The current debate about the care system for children highlights the variations across the country and need for additional targeted support to give these children the opportunities to participate in a wider range of activities, take advantage of services offered by local authorities and improve their personal outcome when they finally leave school and the care system.

There are a few last remaining places left for the SCNF event on 23rd April in Peterborough. We welcome your feedback on the use of entitlement cards at the meeting, via the Chair’s blog and email to the SCNF.

Kevin Farquharson & Steve Beecroft
Joint Chair SCNF
See www.scnf.org.uk

Friday 17 April 2009

Research of Local Authority experience

DWP – Ageing Society Strategy

The Forum has received a request from the DWP for examples of the use of smartcards by older people to access different services. Anyone with a case study should contact Phil Martin by email phil.martin2@dwp.gsi.gov.uk or call 020 7449 7019.

This is one of a number of recent requests for research about our members and the market. If you have information on uptake of applications and services which may be of interest to members, we can make it available through the website.

Kevin Farquharson
Joint Chair SCNF

see www.scnf.or.uk

Thursday 16 April 2009

SCNF Schools & Youth Event 23rd April

Our next SCNF event is only a week away and we wanted to give you an insight into the key messages we are expecting to come out from the day in Peterborough.

"For the first time, the SCNF is bringing together at a single event, the definitive initiatives and case studies for combined youth and school cards. School and public sector representatives will learn about schemes which provide incentives for young people, access to services and more efficient school administration. Our Local Authority speakers will cover case studies from London, Bolton, Sunderland and Scotland.

The event will explore how school students can use ONE card at school for a range of applications and access to transport and other services beyond the school gate."

If you are already registered to attend, you should have received confirmation details. We have space for a few more Public Sector delegates, so sign up and let us know you wish to come.

We look forward to meeting you on the 23rd.

Regards

Kevin Farquharson
Join Chair SCNF
For SCNF Core Group

Friday 27 March 2009

“Welcome to the “From the Chair” blog

This is a brand new feature to our forum and coincides with the official SCNF re-launch and announcement of our Schools & Youth Event in Peterborough on the 23rd April.

In this blog the co-Chairs Kevin Farquharson and Steve Beecroft we will be updating you on all things smart card, relating to local authority implementations and of course seeking your input and comment too. So…….why not help shape the future of smart card projects across the sector and contribute with your comments and share your experiences? Your input and feedback is critical to the ongoing success of the Forum.

We will also be reviewing how other developments in smart card technology outside of council deployments and comment on how they might be used to help local authorities deliver services to their residents.

For our first Official blog we want to up date you on the re-launch and the next event Schools & Youth Event in Peterborough on the 23rd April. We also need to announce the short AGM during the course of the meeting.

Since November, the Core Group has overseen a busy period of renewal of the SCNF. When you next connect to the website, you will find the re-branding launched on 12th March, a comprehensive programme of events and of course a much more useful and effective website www.scnf.org. We hope you will be pleased with the results and make better use of the forum contacts and resources. We very much welcome feedback, comments and suggestions from our members.

The SCNF Schools and Youth Event, sponsored by Sentinel EasyTrace will showcase and discuss applications for schools and youth services and will include speakers from Bolton Council, Sunderland City Council, Young Scot Card, Kingston Council and Your London Card Scheme. We look forward to meeting members at this exciting event.

Traditionally our AGMs are very short, however as part of the AGM, we must elect the Core Group members for the coming year. This year we expect to be able to elect up to 5 new Full Members to the Core Group. Current Core Group members, any Full Members and Sponsor members may nominate themselves for election by contacting the Treasurer and Chair. Each nominee must name a seconder from another organisation (Sponsor or Full Member). Rest assured, we won’t co-opt anyone on sight at the event!

Visit the website today and experience the new look and easier to access information. We look forward to networking with you all”

Regards

Kevin Farquharson & Steve Beecroft

Joint Chairman Smart Card Networking Forum
See www.scnf.org.uk