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