Nottinghamshire CC awards HOPS contract
Following a lengthy OJEU Negotiated Procurement process Nottinghamshire County Council is pleased to announce that ACT (Applied Card Technologies Ltd) have been awarded the contract to provide a managed service for the Council’s ITSO HOPS/AMS (Host Operator Processor System/Asset Management System).
Eager to forge ahead with the delivery, a swift start was made on the contract acceptance date of 28th December 2005; such is the commitment of both ACT and NCC to implement one of the first ITSO schemes in the UK.
The migration of the existing inter-operable ‘freedom card’ scheme, to the ITSO specification, will allow even greater flexibility of use and further opportunities for expansion to other transport modes, integrated ticketing, seamless travel and additional applications; encompassing over 110,000 card holders.
County Councillor Stella Smedley says “This is a very important milestone in the development of our existing ‘freedom card’ scheme which will bring many benefits to the residents of Nottinghamshire.”
ACT’s HOPS development has progressed strongly through ITSO certification and was awarded AMS and collection & forwarding certification in December 2005. The last stages in the certification process are on target to be completed early in 2006, giving ACT a fully certified product and enabling them to drive forward with the ‘freedom card’ scheme.
ITSO is fast becoming the recognised industry standard for all transport operators in line with the Department for Transport and the need for integrated travel across the UK. 2006 is set to see the move from development into operation for a number of schemes and the progression towards further interoperability.
