People in Cornwall are being given a new way to access a range of
public services, writes Karl Cushing.
Cornwall County Council is combating social exclusion among the
largely rural local community by offering access to a wide variety
of public services via a Java-based smartcard.
Trials of the Cornish Key smartcards began in February. In the
first phase of the project:
- Pupils at a local school are using the card to buy meals and
register attendance
- 11 local libraries are accepting the card in place of existing
library cards
- Some local buses accept the card for concessionary bus
fares
- Local residents get cheaper car parking by paying with the
card
- The card operates door entry systems for some council
buildings
- The cards will be used by council workers for logging onto PCs
when the council switches to Windows XP.
The second phase of the implementation will include adding leisure
and tourism services, e-voting, loyalty points and e-purse
facilities, including cashless vending.
Roy Cosway, Cornish Key project manager at Cornwall County Council,
says the project is also committed to delivering at least 1,000
cards to local diabetics.
Medics will be equipped with smartcard readers so they can diagnose
card carriers more quickly in an emergency. Students at a local
medical school may also be able to use the cards to access
resources remotely.
The cards have two main sections: one containing "public"
information such as the user's name and address and another
containing "private" information, such as transaction details,
which is protected by a Pin code.
Users can check their balance and transaction history by using
facilities at council sites. Alternatively, they can purchase a
mobile or PC-based card reader from the council for £10 and £25
respectively.
Traders and publicans are being given the readers for free. "A lot
of that is about convincing the public they can control and see
what is actually on the card," says Cosway.
The scheme has attracted funding from the Government's Pathfinder
project, and a second expression of interest has been submitted to
the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
However, it has not all been plain sailing. As well as geographical
and infrastructure constraints, Cosway says Cornish people are
sceptical about new technology.
Relations with the numerous suppliers involved - overseen by
smartcard consultancy firm Smartex - were often strained, with poor
delivery schedules, high quotes and inflexibility.
One exception was smartcard supplier Orga. "They have been really
good," says Cosway. "They gave us a good quote for the card, it is
a quality product and they delivered on time."
Cosway says the project team has learned a lot by taking risks. "In
the public sector we usually don't take risks but we were told that
taking risks with Pathfinders was more acceptable," he says.