Sunday 30 January 2011

Contactless Intelligence Awards

This year's awards at the Contactless Intelligence event on 14th April include a category for public sector schemes. An initial application form is available to download.

This is an excellent annual event and we have negotiated some free places for public sector delegates to attend. See Agenda for the 5th Contactless Intelligence Spring Conference and Contactless Monkey Awards (CMAs) 2011 at http://bit.ly/9IP3CM.

SCNF is due to present a round up of public sector schemes and news.

Please contact us if you want more information or you wish to attend - email events@scnf.org.uk

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

SCNF - Payment and Transport events

The SCNF has been represented at a couple of events this month.

Last week at Transport Ticketing 2011, I represented the forum and stood in for Mick Davies (LASSeO) for a panel discussion about multiple applications and using smartcards for transport across Europe. We all hope Mick recovers and is back in circulation soon.

The event was very well attended with a key note address from Norman Baker to kick off proceedings. I will try to get some notes written up for SCNF.

On 31st, SCNF will be represented at an alternative currency unconference in London. The event has been called by the Cabinet Office and will see discussions about how to encourage and reward volunteering and other contributions to local communities. Look out for feedback after the event.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Somers on Obesity and the NHS

My attention was grabed by the article in the London Standard tonight about Shaw Somers experience with rapidly rising obesity related illness and the dire implications on the NHS.

See http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23913213-obese-patients-will-break-nhs-budget-within-10-years.do

If occurences of cancer or other diseases increased at the same rate there would be a national outcry! There is clearly a need for urgent action for adults and children in the UK.

This is one of the topics we are covering at the Rewards, Incentives and Loyalty event on 19th January in Westminster. Come and hear the latest update on the Barking and Dagenham youth card and discuss other initiatives to improve wellbeing, the environment and our communities.

We look forward to meeting members on 19th Jan

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

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Rewards, Incentives and Loyalty - 19th Jan Westminster

We are holding our next members' event on 19th Jan, because we believe it is TIME to discuss how rewards, incentives and loyalty schemes can encourage residents to participate in and support their local community while helping local authorities to deliver more with limited resources.

Recent Government announcements and discussions have highlighted the need to offer and manage incentives:

The White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People includes an expectation: Guide choice through incentives. A ‘points mean prizes’ approach, for example the more a child walks to school, they earn points for healthy prizes like an activity day.

The Cabinet Office Behaviour Insight Team which is taking forward the Coalition Government’s objective to be a much smarter one, shunning the bureaucratic levers of the past and finding intelligent ways to encourage, support and enable people to make better choices for themselves. Clearly reward and incentive schemes can play a major part in enabling these outcomes by tracking and recognising contributions in the community. See
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/big-society

There are a few places left for SCNF members to join the dialogue and learn from the case studies we have brought together.

We look forward to seeing you next week.

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

Wednesday 5 January 2011

Best Wishes for 2011

As we get back to work and the start of a challenging year, SCNF is planning to run events which enable new initiatives and help you deliver services more effectively and efficiently.

Our first event is on 19th Jan in Westminster, when we will be presenting a number of case studies on reward, incentive and loyalty schemes. There are some excellent examples of health, environment and community challenges being tackled with smart cards and reward/incentive schemes. We look forward to hearing views from members at this meeting.

At the end of January, we have an excellent offer for member to attend Transport Ticketing 2011 and expect an ongoing dialogue about the more effective use of smartcards and future direction of ITSO and payment cards in transport.

We welcome your input on topics for future meetings - recent ideas include scheme business case, schools, resident card schemes and payment methods.

Best wishes for 2011

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