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

£4B funding for health initiatives

Andrew Lansley has announced £4B funding ring fenced to improve the nation's health working through Local Authorities and new health body.

Our health is one of the key themes of the next SCNF event where we will be show-casing a range of scheme which reward and incentive behaviour change. The event will feature the Barking & Dagenham scheme which tackles childhood obesity and teenage sexual health. We have also invited representatives from NHS and will have the first report on the Southampton initiative sponsored by DWP to encourage older citizens to become more active.

Places are limited for this event which is free for SCNF member to attend. For more information, go to www.scnf.org.uk or email events@scnf.org.uk.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

Rewards, Incentives and Loyalty 19th Jan

We are holding our next event on 19th Jan, because we believe it is the right time to discuss how rewards, incentives and loyalty schemes can encourage residents to participate and support their local community.

Climate, economic, health and social pressures are expected to have an increasing impact on our lives and provision of services. Local Authorities are trying to deliver the same or better services with less resource.

As Lord Nat Wei recently stated, "it is how we support citizens in taking control of their lives" (and local environment).

At this event, you will discover how other authorities are increasing recycling rates while saving on landfill costs, learn about schemes to encourage healthy eating & postive activity, hear about sustainable shemes to support local businesses and find out about the success of timebanking to encourage participation in the local community.

This unique event brings together case studies and discussion of the principal aspects of our world which we would like to see improved - environment, health, community and social wealth.

We look forward to meeting you at the event on 19th Jan 2011. Places are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

Pre-paid in Public Transport Workshop

Norman Baker, Under Secretary of State for Transport has recently re-inforced his expectation that one smart card should be used to travel seamlessly anywhere in the country, possibly including bikes and car clubs.

While this is already possible for holders of a concessionary transport smart card, how will it be realised for those of us who have to pay for each journey on public transport?

On one hand TfL has firmly committed to introduce support for contactless debit and credit cards to be used, making it much easier for occasional visitors to travel. Also by 2012, you should be able to travel through or into London with an ITSO ticket. Elsewhere regional schemes are thinking about various methods of pre-paid travel and "stored travel rights", but are they compatible for seamless travel - does an Oxford pound buy a journey in Leicester? What do you need to make the journey experience better and public transport more accessible? Is the hassle of loading your card just moving from the station to a kiosk or corner shop?

It explore these challenges and the consequences of enabling pre-paid EMV cards for use on public transport, SCNF is holding a workshop on 24th Nov in conjunction with Global Pre-paid Exchange. If you have thoughts, questions or would like to participate, please contact us on chair@scnf.org.uk

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

SCNF Reward, Incentive & Loyalty Event - 19 Jan 2011

If you had registered for this event, you should have been contacted directly.

We are re-schedule the SCNF event to Jan 2011 when we expect the uncertainty over the funding of public services will be reduced and the potential links to the Big Society agenda will be clearer. We have an excellent line up of speakers and want to ensure we have a useful debate on the use of smart card technology in health, environment and community incentive schemes. We will also make some of the case studies available on line before the event.

We will still be holding an informal meeting at 10am for those already committed to visiting London. If you plan to join us, please can you reply to events@scnf.org.uk and we will send you revised arrangements.

We expect to publicise the new date in the next few weeks.

Regards,

Kevin Farquharson & Steve Beecroft
Co-Chairs SCNFt: +44 (0) 1483 772241 e: chair@scnf.org.ukw: http://www.scnf.org.uk/

RFID Europe

A number of members trekked up to Cambridge for the annual RFID Europe event. While the event has a strong technical angle, it is the place to find out about market trends and how organisations are using innovative technology. I would like to thank IDTechEx for welcoming SCNF and members to the event.

During the conference sessions, there was focus on RFID technology in retail, a presentation by contactless payment provider sQuid Card, some interesting case studies in the use of NFC (contactless enabled mobile phones), Multi-function Wayfinding from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Cubic on transportation smart ticketing and use of RFID in Cambridge central library.

The use of RFID continues to grow across the world in every sector from transport and goods to healthcare and animal tagging. The cost of devices continue to fall in real terms as well as getting smaller and lighter. This makes RFID and related smart card technology a major enabler of process improvement, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs.

We are considering running a Public Sector stream again next year, so members can see the bigger picture of the effective use of identification technology. We will try and obtain some presentations from this year to publish on the website.

We would welcome your thoughts on ideas and topics to cover

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF

We are delighted to be holding the next SCNF meeting on 7th Oct at Westminster University. The event will feature leading UK case studies on reward, incentive and loyalty schemes. We will be discuss the link with the big society agenda as well as discussing the potential to improve health outcomes and community participation.

The event will feature the following case studies:

Derbyshire Gold Card - Enabling participation in the community, eg, Students vote on £1 million of investments.
Spice - Agency Time Credits enable public services to deliver improved outcomes with fewer resources.
Cheshire Charisma Card - Now in it’s 7th year the scheme continues to promote the use of local businesses, access to discounted parking and free events.
Mid-Suffolk Key Card Scheme - The Mid Suffolk Key offers discounts at over 50 outlets across the district.
Barking & Dagenham - Street Base Connect encourages young people to lead healthier, more active lives.
Windsor & Maidenhead - green recycling initiative has helped the borough reach 37% recycling. 75% of eligible green waste customers have activated their RecycleBank accounts.

The case studies will be followed by debates about health and incentive schemes.

Kevin Farquharson
Co-Chair SCNF