Bracknell Forest simplifies smartcard scheme implementation

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;

1. The SmartConnect Card Management system
2. A comprehensive scheme support package
3. Secure scheme hosting facilities
4. Card printing and encoding capability (including ITSO & sQuid)

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

Because Bracknell Forest has already followed a full EU procurement for the provision of SmartConnect support services, any other local authority can now contract directly with BFBC. It can do this because, subject to an authority’s own financial and contract regulations, it will be able to demonstrate Best Value. Local authorities can therefore quickly establish a smartcard scheme which is comprehensive, reliable and offers value for money.

Potential benefits include the efficient delivery and management of concessionary fare cards, library and leisure membership, all of which can potentially work through authorities own CRM systems.