Welcome to the SmartConnect website

Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) have been an early adopter and leader in the development of smart card technology within local government since 2000.

BFC were originally chosen by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to lead the delivery of the National Smart Card Project. On completion of the National Project, BFC became custodians of the software (now known as SmartConnect) and have continued to develop and promote it.

The BFC e+ card is now used by over 70,000 residents to gain access to a growing number of council services. The success of this scheme has been widely recognized, and this year BFC were finalists in the 2009 e-Government National Awards for ‘Leading the smartcard revolution in Local Authorities’.

SmartConnect software is used to enhance the delivery of services in a growing number of local authorities including Bracknell, Bolton, Caerphilly, Hillingdon and Barking and Dagenham. All SmartConnect users are members of the SmartConnect User Group which meets regularly to discuss scheme issues and ways in which the product can be further improved. This collective approach upholds the key principle that SmartConnect should be ‘designed by local authorities for local authorities’.

The London Borough of Hillingdon recently won a number of awards at the prestigious British Parking Awards 2010 reports TransportXtra. The west London council was named Overall Winner after being recognised for its work in launching the Hillingdon First smart card (using SmartConnect); that gives residents discounted parking and developing training for parking staff. Besides the overall prize, the council received the Back Office Team of the Year and the Innovation Award.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council has signed a contract with SmartCitizen Limited for the provision of hosting and maintenance services to SmartConnect site licence holders. This means that any local authority introducing a smartcard scheme can now benefit from the knowledge and experience of Bracknell Forest to acquire and implement the essential components of a scheme.

These include;

  • The SmartConnect Card Management system
  • A comprehensive scheme support package
  • Secure scheme hosting facilities
  • Card printing and encoding capability (including ITSO transport ticketing & sQuid e-purse)

Local authorities now have an alternative to a long and expensive tendering process that can so often cause delay and produce unsatisfactory results.

BFC believe that SmartConnect provides an ideal mechanism for Local Strategic Partnerships to demonstrate cross-partnership working and achieve the targets set in their Local Area Agreements. Research has shown that a properly designed and managed scheme can improve performance in all the key areas shown below and address almost 50 out of the set of 198 National Indicators.

  • Social Inclusion
  • Better access to services
  • Supporting disadvantaged groups
  • Supporting young people
  • Influencing & rewarding behaviour
  • Better health and well-being
  • Community economic regeneration
  • Sustainability
  • Building more cohesive communities

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