AND AN ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001 ] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 61/837,842 filed on June 21 , 2013, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

[0002] The embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for providing and managing a social currency and an engagement platform, and in particular, to systems and methods for providing and encouraging engagement with positive actions and behaviors in life, as well as rewarding the positive actions and behaviours with a social currency.

INTRODUCTION

[0003] It is fairly difficult to manage or otherwise influence people's behaviours without tangible rewards. For example, just because a person is aware of the great benefits associated with working out two to three times a week, he or she may not be motivated enough to actually visit the gym. Key actions of disease prevention and chronic care management often occurs at home, instead of occurring within the conventional health system - such as eating healthy and freshly cooked food, or taking frequent exercises. However, most people are not given enough incentive to actually commit the acts necessary to improve their own lifestyle or health. Effectively, our current society hardly provides tangible rewards for assuming ownership of one's life or health.

[0004] In general, organizations and individuals may be motivated to perform an action or change behavior in order to earn incentives or rewards.

[0005] Further, individuals and organizations may need assistance identifying good behaviours or acts in order to earn incentives or rewards.

[0006] There is a need for a system that can address the above problem and provide a solution to encourage people to change their behaviors in a positive manner.

[0007] Similarly, there is a need for a system that can reward good behaviours and actions with tangible benefits so that people are motivated enough to continuously commit good acts. SUMMARY

[0008] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, a computer system for incentivizing users to perform socially beneficial activities is provided, the computer system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions being executable to configure the processor to provide, through an engagement platform: a persistent data store comprising a currency database to store a plurality of data records, each of the data record associated with a user account of a user from a plurality of users and defining an amount of electronic virtual currency for the user, wherein the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user stored in the currency database is redeemable against a list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services; a data acquisition module to receive, through an electronic receiver, user activity data representing a user activity performed by a user from at least one data feeding device; a data analytics module to detect an occurrence of the user activity based on the user activity data received, wherein the detecting comprises processing and transforming the user activity data so that the detected user activity data is matched with a corresponding activity entry from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities; a reward calculation module to determine an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the corresponding activity entry and a set of socially beneficial factors associated with the corresponding activity entry; a reward management module to modify the data record associated with the user account of the user in the currency database in order to update the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user to include the earned amount of electronic virtual currency; and a reward redemption module configured to receive and process an order from a user to redeem some or all of the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user stored in the currency database for at least one of goods and services from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services.

[0009] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the at least one data feeding device comprises at least one of: a third-party system, a monitoring device, a sensor device, and a social media application.

[0010] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the monitoring device monitors, and transmits to the electronic receiver, the user activity data in real-time or near real-time.

[001 1 ] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the computer system further comprises a curation module to maintain and update the list of predetermined socially beneficial activities. [0012] In accordance with still another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the computer system further comprises a user interface configured to enable the user to browse goods and services from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services.

[0013] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user interface is configured to allow the user to search for products or services according to any one of: category, name, market value, brand, and price in the electronic virtual currency.

[0014] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user interface is configured to allow the user to sort products or services by any one of the following: newest or oldest, popularity, category, name, market value, brand, and price in the electronic virtual currency.

[0015] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user activity data is received from a third-party system, the at least one data feeding device is a database from the third-party system, and the user activity data are associated with a plurality of users.

[0016] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities is customizable for each user.

[0017] In accordance with still another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined goods and services is updated in real-time or near real-time based on any one of: user feedback, third-party certifications, and expert evaluation.

[0018] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the third party certification comprises certificates associated with one or more of: USA Organic, Fairtrade, and Energy Efficient Certificate.

[0019] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the computer system further comprises an activity database storing the user activity data.

[0020] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the computer system further comprises a reporting module to aggregate and analyze the user activity data stored in the activity database to general reports.

[0021 ] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities is customized based on one of more of: age, gender, occupation, health, user preferences, and historical data.

[0022] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, a computer-implemented method implementable by a processor for incentivizing users to perform socially beneficial activities is provided, the method comprises the steps of: storing, by the processor, a plurality of data records to a currency database provided by a persistent data store, each of the data record associated with a user account of a user from a plurality of users and defining an amount of electronic virtual currency for the user, wherein the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user stored in the currency database is redeemable against a list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services; receiving, through an electronic receiver, user activity data representing a user activity performed by a user from at least one data feeding device; detecting, by the processor, an occurrence of the user activity based on the user activity data, wherein the detecting comprises processing and transforming the user activity data so that the detected occurrence of the user activity is matched with a corresponding activity entry from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities; determining, by the processor, an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the corresponding activity entry and a set of socially beneficial factors associated with the corresponding activity entry; modifying, by the processor, the data record associated with the user account of the user in the currency database in order to update the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user to include the earned amount of electronic virtual currency; and receiving and processing an order from a user to redeem some or all of the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user stored in the currency database for at least one of goods and services from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services.

[0023] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the at least one data feeding device comprises at least one of: a third-party system, a monitoring device, a sensor device, and a social media application.

[0024] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the monitoring device monitors and transmits the user activity data in real-time or near real-time.

[0025] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the method can further maintain and updating the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities by a curation module.

[0026] In accordance with still another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises presenting a user interface configured to enable the user to browse goods and services from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services.

[0027] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user interface is configured to allow the user to search for products or services according to any one of: category, name, market value, brand, and price in the electronic virtual currency.

[0028] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user interface is configured to allow the user to sort products or services by any one of the following: newest or oldest, popularity, category, name, market value, brand, and price in the electronic virtual currency.

[0029] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the user activity data is received from a third-party system, the at least one data feeding device is a database from the third-party system, and the user activity data are associated with a plurality of users.

[0030] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities is customizable for each user.

[0031 ] In accordance with still another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined goods and services is updated in real-time or near real-time based on any one of: user feedback, third-party certifications, and expert evaluation.

[0032] In accordance with one aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the third party certification comprises certificates associated with one or more of: USA Organic, Fairtrade, and Energy Efficient Certificate.

[0033] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises storing the activity data to an activity database.

[0034] In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the method further aggregates and analyzes the activity data stored in the activity database to general reports.

[0035] In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities is customized based on one of more of: age, gender, occupation, health, user preferences, and historical data.

DRAWINGS

[0036] Various embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which: [0037] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for incentivizing users to conduct socially beneficial activities in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0038] Figure 2 is a flowchart diagram of a method for incentivizing users to conduct socially beneficial activities in accordance with an example embodiment;

[0039] Figure 3 is a schematic concept of an engagement platform and associated partners according to some embodiments;

[0040] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of another system for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0041] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a further system for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0042] Figure 6a is a schematic diagram of an example system for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0043] Figures 6b and 6c illustrate a schematic diagram of a logical architecture of a system for providing an engagement platform according to some other embodiments;

[0044] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram for an engagement management process according to some embodiments;

[0045] Figures 8a and 8b illustrate a system block diagram of a business architecture of an engagement management module according to some embodiments;

[0046] Figure 9 is a system block diagram for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0047] Figure 10 is a flow chart diagram for providing an engagement program via an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0048] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing fleet, driving and warehouse efficiency program according to some embodiments;

[0049] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing a health and wellness program according to some embodiments;

[0050] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing a print reduction program according to some embodiments;

[0051 ] Figure 14 is an example a user interface providing an electricity usage dashboard according to some embodiments; [0052] Figure 15 is an example user interface providing surveys with incentive in electronic virtual currency according to some embodiments;

[0053] Figure 16a is an example user interface for benchmarking according to some embodiments;

[0054] Figure 16b is an example user interface for gauging electricity usage according to some embodiments;

[0055] Figure 16c is an example user interface for providing an electricity usage summary according to some embodiments;

[0056] Figure 17 is an example user interface for providing campaigns via an engagement platform according to some embodiments;

[0057] Figure 18 is an example user interface for providing offers according to some embodiments;

[0058] Figure 19 is an example user interface providing socially beneficial products and services according to some embodiments;

[0059] Figure 20 is an example user interface for providing driving data via an engagement program according to some embodiments;

[0060] Figure 21 is an example user interface for providing walking data via an engagement program according to some embodiments;

[0061] Figures 22a-22c show example values and categories that may be provided by a catalogue for redemption of electronic virtual currency; and

[0062] Figure 23 illustrates an example program taxonomy design in relation to an electronic virtual currency (GOODCoins).

[0063] For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements or steps. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well- known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments generally described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may engage positive behavior with incentives and rewards, for example, through the issuance and redemption of an electronic virtual currency. Data may be acquired about end-users or users to monitor or detect positive behavior or acts. The acquired data may be processed and analyzed to detect activities and compute metrics about end-users and segments thereof. Different engagement programs may be created for specific objects and segments of end- users. Communication, alerts and feedback may be provided to end-users to further engage positive behavior. Programs may measure various individual and organizational achievement and ROI, and generate business intelligence and other kinds of reports. The embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may include a rewards program, such as a reward management system and a redemption catalogue. Points or an electronic virtual currency "GOOD" Coins may be earned and redeemed for goods and services that may be socially beneficial and complement the positive behavior. In some embodiments of the invention, the electronic virtual currency may only be earned through a socially beneficial activity and may only be redeemed for socially beneficial goods or services as predetermined by the engagement platform.

[0065] Socially beneficial activities may include a variety of activities that provide a net benefits to one or more individuals, the society, or the environment as a whole. The socially beneficial activities may be based on a pre-determined list of activities that can be generated, modified, and/or curated in real time or near real time based on a range of factors. Similarly, socially beneficial goods or services may include a wide range of products, goods or services that provide a net benefit to the general public or the society. For example, a socially beneficial activity may be biking to work, as it is environmentally friendly and also a healthy exercise. For another example, a socially beneficial goods may be a Fairtrade certified coffee beans or electric vehicle that is energy efficient. The lists can go on and may be curated, modified, deleted or otherwise customized for each user in realtime or near real-time.

[0066] The embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. These embodiments may be implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers, each computer including at least one processor, a data storage system (including volatile memory or nonvolatile memory or other data storage elements or a combination thereof), and at least one communication interface. For example, and without limitation, the various programmable computers may be a server, network appliance, set-top box, embedded device, computer expansion module, personal computer, laptop, personal data assistant, cellular telephone, smartphone device, UMPC tablets and wireless hypermedia device or any other computing device capable of being configured to carry out the methods described herein.

[0067] Program code is applied to input data to perform the functions described herein and to generate output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices, in known fashion. In some embodiments, the communication interface may be a network communication interface. In embodiments in which elements of the invention are combined, the communication interface may be a software communication interface, such as those for inter-process communication (IPC). In still other embodiments, there may be a combination of communication interfaces implemented as hardware, software, and combination thereof.

[0068] Each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming or scripting language, or both, to communicate with a computer system. However, alternatively the programs may be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. The language may be a compiled or interpreted language. Each such computer program may be stored on a storage media or a device (e.g., ROM, magnetic disk, optical disc), readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer, for configuring and operating the computer when the storage media or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. Embodiments of the system may also be considered to be implemented as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described herein.

[0069] Furthermore, the systems and methods of the described embodiments are capable of being distributed in a computer program product including a physical, non- transitory computer readable medium that bears computer usable instructions for one or more processors. The medium may be provided in various forms, including one or more diskettes, compact disks, tapes, chips, magnetic and electronic storage media, volatile memory, non-volatile memory and the like. Non-transitory computer-readable media may include all computer-readable media, with the exception being a transitory, propagating signal. The term non-transitory is not intended to exclude computer readable media such as primary memory, volatile memory, RAM and so on, where the data stored thereon may only be temporarily stored. The computer useable instructions may also be in various forms, including compiled and non-compiled code. [0070] Figures 1 and 4 to 13 illustrate schematic and block diagrams of various systems for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments. The engagement platform may also be referred to herein as an engagement system.

[0071] Engagement system provides a resource usage and planning system that integrates with organizational functions to provide management of sustainability engagement, data management, analytics, communications, and rewards architecture. Engagement system encourages positive behavior and provides rewards for beneficial goods, services, and the like.

[0072] Engagement system may be implemented using a server and data storage devices configured with database(s) or file system(s), or using multiple servers or groups of servers distributed over a wide geographic area and connected via a network. Engagement system may be connected to a data storage device directly or via to a cloud based data storage device via network. Engagement system may reside on any networked computing device including a processor and non-transitory computer readable storage medium or memory, such as a personal computer, workstation, server, portable computer, mobile device, personal digital assistant, laptop, tablet, smart phone, WAP phone, an interactive television, video display terminals, gaming consoles, electronic reading device, and portable electronic devices or a combination of these. Engagement system may include one or more microprocessors that may be any type of processor, such as, for example, any type of general-purpose microprocessor or microcontroller, a digital signal processing (DSP) processor, an integrated circuit, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), or any combination thereof. Engagement system may include any type of computer memory that is located either internally or externally such as, for example, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), electro-optical memory, magneto-optical memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), and electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or the like. Engagement system may include one or more input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, camera, touch screen and a microphone, and may also include one or more output devices such as a display screen and a speaker. Engagement system has a network interface in order to communicate with other components, to serve an application and other applications, and perform other computing applications by connecting to network XX (or multiple networks) capable of carrying data including the Internet, Ethernet, plain old telephone service (POTS) line, public switch telephone network (PSTN), integrated services digital network (ISDN), digital subscriber line (DSL), coaxial cable, fiber optics, satellite, mobile, wireless (e.g. Wi-Fi, WiMAX), SS7 signaling network, fixed line, local area network, wide area network, and others, including any combination of these. Although only one system 10 is shown for clarity, there may be multiple engagement systems or groups of engagement systems distributed over a wide geographic area and connected via e.g. network.

[0073] Engagement system generally connects with or includes one or more data storage devices (e.g., memory, and the like), and could include a relational database (such as a SQL database), or other suitable data storage mechanisms. Data storage devices are operable to store data records for engagement system, and associated applications such as data for provision to user devices or data received from user devices. A cloud based data storage device may be accessible to user device through a cloud services interface. Cloud computing generally is the use of computing hardware and software resources that are delivered as a service over a network to user device or engagement system. Data storage devices may include any type of computer memory that is located either internally or externally such as, for example, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), electro-optical memory, magneto-optical memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), and electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or the like. In some embodiments, the engagement system may also have one or more backup servers that may duplicate some or all of the data stored on the data storage devices. The backup servers may be desirable for disaster recovery (e.g., to prevent undesired data loss in the event of an event such as a fire, flooding, or theft). In some embodiments, the backup servers may be directly connected to the system 10 but located at a different physical location.

[0074] Engagement system may interact with a range of user devices and enterprise platforms. User device is operable by a user and may be any portable or non-portable, networked (wired or wireless) computing device including a processor and memory and suitable for facilitating communication between one or more computing applications of user device (e.g. a computing application installed on or running on the user device), the engagement system, and cloud services.

[0075] In accordance with some embodiments, user device may be a mobile computing device, such as an enterprise mobile computing device. A mobile computing device may be a two-way communication device with advanced data communication capabilities having the capability to communicate with other computer systems and devices.

The mobile device may include the capability for data communications and may also include the capability for voice communications. Depending on the functionality provided by the mobile device, mobile device may be referred to as a portable electronic device, smartphone, a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a cellular telephone with data messaging capabilities, personal digital assistant, a wireless Internet appliance, a portable laptop computer, a tablet computer, a media player, an electronic reading device, a data communication device (with or without telephony capabilities) or a combination of these. The user device may be mounted, installed, or otherwise integrated with a vehicle, home, office, or attached to an individual. User device may be connected with engagement system via any suitable communications channel. For example, the user device may communicate within the engagement system over a Local Area Network (LAN) or intranet, or using an external network. User device may also have additional embedded components such as sensors, pedometer, a global positioning system (GPS), a clock, a calendar, and so on. User device may also be connected to and receive data from other devices that collect data regarding the user, objects associated with the user, and so on.

[0076] Engagement system may provide system architecture configured to encourage positive changes in behavior with incentives and rewards, such as through an electronic virtual currency (e.g. GOODcoin™, described below). The rewards may in turn be related to the positive or socially beneficial goods or services. The incentives and rewards may be otherwise beneficial and sustainable. A set of socially beneficial factors can be associated with each activity entry stored in a list of pre-pre-determined socially beneficial activities, the set of socially beneficial factors may be related to carbon neutral or energy efficient, for example. Engagement system may enable engagement management program to configure engagement programs for particular organizations and individuals. The encouraged behavior may be defined as rules, definitions or lists and stored in a rules engine or database. Activities may be recorded and/or monitored to determine whether a rule has been met or a socially beneficial activity has been done. Benchmarking may encourage competition and games amongst users to increase positive behavior. Engagement system may be linked or may include a point system, such that points may be rewarded based on good behavior. The points may be redeemed for goods, services, and the like. In addition, the engagement platform may also be linked to or integrated with an electronic virtual currency.

Electronic Virtual Currency (e.g. GOODcoins)

[0077] The electronic virtual currency (also referred to as "GOODcoins") according to one aspect of an embodiment is a novel and advantageous way to reward an individual or an organization when the individual or organization has performed socially beneficial activities.

[0078] GOODcoins are units of an electronic virtual currency that can be redeemed for a range of goods or services that also contribute to a more sustainable world (e.g. "socially beneficial goods or services"), creating a virtuous cycle of good actions. GOODcoins can be a form of a tangible reward for good behavior. [0079] GOODcoins are issued and redeemed through data-driven evidence, managed through an engagement platform system (also referred to as the "engagement platform" or the "system") described herein. The engagement platform links to and analyzes multiple sources of data and behavior in multiple fields. These can include energy and water use, transportation, sustainable agriculture and food distribution, and healthcare.

[0080] GOODcoins objectify or quantify good behaviors and rewards. For example, evidence-based actions directly taken to manage, say a chronic condition (e.g. taking meds, exercising and so on), are rewarded. In addition, users can receive GOODcoins for a wider variety of actions that address good health as a social as well as a personal activity (e.g. "socially beneficial activities"). Examples of socially beneficial activities can be exercise, eating three servings of fruits a day, even taking a course to learn how to cook from fresh. The breadth of actions and rewards help to hardwire these new behaviors in the users' brains.

[0081] A sample user scenario is as follows: managing diabetes requires considerable effort to eat the right foods. The patient needs to avoid sugars and highly- processed convenience foods. If the patient lives in a poorer neighborhood that do not supply fresh food or is unable to cook for himself, the consequence may be that medicine is called upon to expensively manage a social issue, as the diabetic patient turns up at the ER or community health clinic. GOODcoins can be used to subsidize the availability of food. People taking better care of themselves are rewarded with a currency that further encourages and enables them to buy things that are healthy or otherwise beneficial for them.

[0082] Everyone can have a different view on what a good reward is and what the motivations are. The engagement platform has the flexibility for an organization to design a customized program that fits its mandate, and for people to be rewarded in customized ways.

[0083] As shown in Figure 1 , a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of the system 10 for incentivizing users to perform socially beneficial activities is provided. System 10 includes a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable memory storing instructions, the instructions being executable to configure the processor to provide a number of functional components including: an API module 20, a Data Acquisition module 22, a Partner/ Enterprise module 24, a Data Analytics module 26, a Reward Calculation module 28, an Authentication module 30, a Reward Redemption module 32, a Reward Management module 34, a Curation module 36, a Reporting module 38, a User Interface module 42, a Currency database 40 and an Activities database 45. This is a non-limiting example embodiment of system 10 and system 10 may be implemented with fewer, additional or alternative modules. An enterprise service bus (ESB) 18 enables asynchronous communication and data exchange between the system 10 components. An optional ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) framework (not shown) may also be included to cleanse and profile data for intended application(s) from different sources and various databases.

[0084] The application programming interface (API) 20, Partner/ Enterprise module 24, User Interface module 42 may access the functionality of the Data Analytics module 26, Reward Calculation module 28, Authentication module 30, Reward Redemption module 32, Reward Management module 34, Curation module 36, Reporting module 38, and other components directly through the ESB 18. One or more computing devices 12a, 12b, 12c (e.g. personal computer, mobile device, cell phone, tablets, personal data assistant, third party system, widget) may access the functionality of the Data Analytics module 26, Reward Calculation module 28, Authentication module 30, Reward Redemption module 32, Reward Management module 34, Curation module 36, Reporting module 38 and other components through a network 16 and the API 20. The components of the system 10 are modular and may function independently or together.

[0085] The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to receive, via one or more electronic receivers (not shown), real-time or near real-time data for user activities via computing device 12a, 12b, 12c (equipped with sensors, a global positioning system, onboard vehicle devices, and the like), connected sensor devices (e.g. Wii™ Remote, Nike™ Connector, Fitbit™ Connector), third party systems (e.g. iPhone™ or Samsung™ watch), and the like in order to monitor user activities and detect the occurrence of an activity or an event.

[0086] The electronic receivers may comprise of hardware components, software components, or both. An example electronic receiver may be an integrated circuit for serial communications over a computer or peripheral device serial port. In some cases the electronic receivers may be part of a microcontroller circuit.

[0087] In one embodiment of the invention, the Data Acquisition module 22 may receive the user activity data from one or more activity monitors or data feeders. An example of activity monitor may be a Nike™ wearable motion sensor band, a Fitbit™ device, a Google™ Glass, a Samsung™ watch. An example of a data feeder may be a bluetooth device, a third-party database or system such as electricity usage database from a hydro provider, a patient health record database from a hospital, a credit card transaction database from a financial institution, a purchase history database from a grocery or supermarket store, a residential property database or any other kind of database from a government agency. The data feeder may further comprise an example social media application such as Facebook™, Tweeter™ or Instagram™.

[0088] A user activity may be any activity or event that can be objectively monitored, detected, proven, or otherwise evidenced with some type of recorded or monitored data. It may be an instantaneous act or a prolonged activity stretched over days or weeks. For example, it may be the purchasing of a carton of organic milk, eating appropriate food, following rehab instructions, walking 10 kilometers in a week, or taking the proper medications on time for a chronic disease. It may also be driving or biking to work, installing or purchasing energy efficient appliances, or visiting the doctor's office.

[0089] For example, when a user purchases any item from a store, he or she may pay with credit card and have a credit card record (A) evidencing the purchase. He may also obtain a receipt (B), which can contain a detailed item-by-item description of the purchase. Alternatively or concurrently, the store at which he shops at may also keep a record of his purchases (C) over time, possibly linked to one or more credit or debit cards he uses, or a royalty program to which he is registered. All the above-mentioned types of data (A, B, C) may be uploaded or otherwise transmitted to Data Acquisition module 22, in real-time or near real-time, or at any time. If the user decides to upload the receipt or credit card statement evidencing his purchase to system 10, he may do so through user interface module 42, which can in turn send the uploaded document to Data Acquisition module 22.

[0090] The Data Acquisition module 22 can be further operable to receive data from social media and other forms of user interaction websites.

[0091 ] The Data Acquisition module 22 is also operable to receive raw or unprocessed activity data from any third party system (e.g. an enterprise resource planning system of a grocery store chain, or an airline carrier, etc.) and transform them, possibly via a ETL framework, into a form that can be further processed and stored by other modules (e.g. Data Analytics module 26) in system 10.

[0092] For example, a user may be equipped with a monitoring or tracking device that is operable to detect and track the user's motion and location in real-time or near realtime (e.g. Fitbit™ device). The detected data may be continuously communicated to the Data Acquisition module 22.

[0093] In some embodiments, the activity may be defined as attributes of a user, such as a user's current weight for fitness or heath related events.

[0094] In some embodiments, The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to store received data evidencing user activities in activity database 45. [0095] The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to receive and process raw activity data for a user activity, an event and the like. The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to define or otherwise generate a record for an activity using the received activity data. Accordingly, the term activity as used herein may relate to data for the activity completed by the user, date for subset of the event (such that multiple sub-activities making up the overall activity or an event), data for activities completed by the user, data for purchases made by the user, and the like. The Data Acquisition module 22 is further operable to receive a user or client identifier to associate the activity data with the user of the system 10.

[0096] As described, Data Acquisition module 22 may receive the raw activity data automatically through various motion sensing connectors, third party systems (e.g., via Partner/ Enterprise module 24) or manually through direct user input, spreadsheets defined by templates, supplier bills, the Partner/ Enterprise module 24, the user interface module 42, the API 20, for example. The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to connect with computing devices 12a, 12b, 12c associated with the user (which may in turn be connected to sensor devices associated with the user, such as pedometers or onboard vehicle sensors or devices for example). The Data Acquisition module 22 is operable to connect directly with sensor devices associated with the user, such as thermostats, pedometers, accelerometers, and the like, to receive raw activity data associated with the user's activities.

[0097] In some example embodiments, an activity may be an event that generates or reduces emissions and occurs relative to a geographic location over a defined period of time. The event may relate to an activity by a user (e.g. emission related, health related, attendance related), a product redeemed using a gift card or a royalty program, a service redeemed using a gift card or a royalty program, a purchase made by the user, and the like. In some example embodiments, an activity may include a measure relating to the consumption or reduction of a resource (e.g., electricity, gasoline, natural gas, water, waste) or the release of an effluent (e.g., mercury or methane) into the environment, or reduction thereof. For example, walking to work for a week instead of driving a car may reduce the release of an effluent. Heating a home for a month may relate the consumption of a resource. An activity may also include a measure of distance traveled by a user, or length of time exercising (e.g. biking, running, walking).

[0098] In examples where the activity relates to a measure of consumption or emission, the raw activity data defines the record of the activity and may generally include one or more of the following data elements: [0099] - an activity type (e.g., driving, flying, electricity, heating, waste, recycling, composting, and paper)

[00100] - a time interval (e.g., start time, end time);

[00101] - a location where the activity occurred (e.g., Toronto, Mike's office);

[00102] - a unit of measure (e.g., kg, kWh, ton); and

[00103] - a consumption/reduction/effluent value (e.g., amount of gas consumed, amount of effluent reduced).

[00104] The raw activity data may further include a cost value and a unit of currency. Additional example activity types include: accommodation, boating, office supplies, household material goods, packaging, shipping, power generation, renewable energy, agricultural applications, refrigerants, food, building materials, public transportation, raw material acquisition, manufacturing, and material processing.

[00105] The data elements of the raw activity data may contain sub-data elements or nested data elements. For example, the activity type 'electricity' may have nested data elements such as: grid, green source, on-site, and private contract. The activity type 'heating' may have nested data elements such as: fuel, electric, cogenerated, and geothermal. The activity type 'flying' may have nested data elements such as: commercial, private leased, and private owned.

[00106] The Data Acquisition module 22 and the Data Analytics module 26 can work in conjunction to store, standardize, validate, verify and classify data received by the system 10 and the Data Acquisition module 22. The Data Acquisition module 22 can ensure data integrity and converts data into common units of measure so that, for example, kilograms are not directly compared to pounds.

[00107] In one embodiment of the invention, when the Data Acquisition module 22 receives raw activity data, it store the raw activity data in an activity database 45. The module 22 may associate the raw activity data with a user identifier. This enables access to a copy of the data as received and allows a user to review their specific input, as well as to enable further processing and/or data mining based on the aggregate data in Activity database 45.

[102] The Data Acquisition module 22 is further operable to convert the raw activity data into standardized activity data and store the standardized activity data in the activity database 45. [00108] Once received, processed and optionally stored by the Data Acquisition module 22, Data Analytics module 26 is operable to analyze the activity data to match the user activity to a corresponding activity from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities.

[00109] A list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities, as well as a list of predetermined socially beneficial goods or services, may be generated and updated by a curation module 36 and stored in a rules engine or a database (not shown) connected to ESB 18. The list can contain a variety of types or examples of user activities, goods or services that have been certified or categorized as socially beneficial. A curation module 36 may be operable to utilize a variety of factors in categorizing a user activity, goods or services, such as expert opinion, user ratings or feedback, reward matrix, guiding principles, or third party certificates.

[001 10] In one embodiment of the invention, the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities and the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods or services are maintained and updated separately. In another embodiment of the invention, items of the two lists are stored and maintained as separate portions of the same list. Regardless of how the lists are stored or otherwise managed, they both can be curated and updated from time to time, or in real-time, by curation module 36.

[001 1 1 ] In one embodiment of the invention, the curation module 36 may assess a user activity, goods or service based on a process that takes into consideration of third party certificates such as USA Organic, Fairtrade, or Energy Efficient recognitions.

[001 12] In another embodiment of the invention, the curation module 36 may further assess a user activity, goods or service based on expert opinion or feedback. An expert panel may be provided in order to curate any goods or service.

[001 13] In yet another embodiment of the invention, the curation module 36 may further assess a user activity, goods or service based on user reviews or comments received from a variety of sources including surveys, redemption reviews and the like.

[001 14] The list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities as well as the list of pre-determined goods and services may be presented in a catalogue that can be assessed online. The catalogue showcases in part environmentally and socially responsible products and services that improve people's lives without compromising quality of value, while respecting the environment and those living in it. The catalogue can further incite interest and desire of healthy, sustainable products and promotes the earning and redeeming of the electronic virtual currency, thus encouraging and incentivizing the users to actively participate in socially beneficial activities.

[001 15] The catalogue may be implemented and managed by Reward Management module 34. The catalogue may comprise a search engine and offer users the ability to search for products by category, market value, and brand (see e.g. Figures 22a-c). The users can access the catalogue on a computer device 12a, 12b, 12c over network 16. The users can also choose number of products showing per page, filter products by range of redemption value, sort products by price in the electronic virtual currency, in an order of newest to oldest or vice versa, or in an order of popularity.

[001 16] The user may further submit reviews or comments in association with any product (i.e. goods) or services listed on the catalogue, or send feedback regarding the catalogue itself. In one embodiment of the invention, the user may submit reviews in the form of rankings of value, quality, satisfaction. In another embodiment of the invention, the user may provide pros or cons of each product or service, and further select options describing the quality of the goods or service.

[001 17] In one embodiment of the invention, the Reward Management module 26 is operable to disclose product curation process to registered users or the general public, and provides an explanation regarding each of the values and third party certificates associated with the curation process. The third party certificates may be listed and updated from time to time, and may change based on user feedback or review.

[001 18] In another embodiment of the invention, the Reward Management module 26 may further remove products or services that have not been purchased or reviewed in a certain period of time (e.g. 3 months).

[001 19] The catalogue can be further operable to customize products or services based on user parameters or preferences. For example, the catalogue can recommend products or services based on interest, demographics, activities, gender, location or age of a user.

[00120] In another embodiment of the invention, the system may be operable to adjust or update the pricing in electronic virtual currency of each goods or services listed on the catalogue, as determined by a commerce management module (see e.g. Figs. 8a and 8b).

[00121 ] In another embodiment of the invention, an user interface can be provided to provide goods and services from a list of predetermined goods and services that are socially beneficial. Each of these goods and services may be redeemed for a certain amount of GOODcoins or electronic virtual currency. Once a user submits an order request, the system is operable to authentic the user based on a user ID, and to further verify that the user has enough GOODcoins associated with his or her user account, as stored in a currency database 45, and can further deduct an appropriate amount of electronic virtual currency from the user account stored in the currency database 45 based on the user's order. The system then can proceed to fulfil the order.

[00122] As described, the system 10 is operable to manage an incentive or reward in the form of electronic virtual currency, such as GOODcoins™. The reward may be used to motivate or encourage socially beneficially behavior and actions. For example, an issuance of certain amount of GOODcoins (or other kinds of electronic virtual currency) may be used to encourage a user to exercise more frequently, such as by walking or running a specific distance each week or month. As another example, the crediting of GOODcoins may be used to encourage a user to reduce the amount of emissions they produce. The issued or credited electronic virtual currency may be used to redeem for a product or service that is also categorized as socially beneficial, as described further below.

[00123] In one embodiment, while appropriate amount of the electronic virtual currency may be issued in exchange of a payment in real world currency (e.g. $10 USD), the reverse however is not operable. That is, in this example embodiment, the electronic virtual currency cannot be converted into real world money, as it can only be spent on socially beneficial goods and services in a pre-determined list maintained and updated by a Reward Management module 34 in conjunction with a Curation module 36.

[00124] In another embodiment, under certain conditions, the electronic virtual currency may be converted into real world money if required.

[00125] The user may also be required to complete a socially beneficial task or activity to be eligible to receive any amount of the electronic virtual currency. For example, the user may submit evidence, via user interface module 42, showing that he or she has completed an activity related to a reduction in emissions in order to be eligible for 30 GOODcoins.

[00126] Data acquisition module 22 is operable to monitor user activities to detect the occurrence of the event. An activity may be a socially beneficial task completed by the user. System 10 may encourage socially beneficial behavior by requiring the user to complete an event in order to be eligible for receiving an earned amount of electronic virtual currency. For example, the activity may be a health or fitness related activity, such as walking, running, or biking a specified distance. The activitymay also be relative to activities by other users or by past activities by the user. For example, the user may have to run more (in terms of time or distance) than one third of other users with a similar demographic. As another example, the user may have to walk more than he/she did the previous week or month.

[00127] As a further example, the activity may relate to driving activities to encourage safe driving by the user. The activity may relate to not passing a threshold number of breaks or accelerations. As an additional example, the activity may relate to attendance at school, work, or meetings hosted by an organization. The activity may attending 5 picnics or lunches organized by a charitable organization. As another example, the activity may socially beneficial task completed by the user to reduce emissions, such as planting trees, walking, reducing the amount of energy used by the user's home for a month, and the like.

[00128] As an illustrative example, the user may complete an activity, such as walking to work for a week or walking a threshold distance in a week, which may be detected by Data acquisition module 22. The Data acquisition module 22 may be connected via network 16 to a user's pedometer or smartphone equipped with sensors and a global positioning system to track the user's activities, such as walking, in order to detect the occurrence of an event.

[00129] User Interface module 42 is operable to provide a graphical representation of a user's progress towards completing an event. User Interface module 42 is operable to interface with Data Acquisition module 22 to receive real-time or near real-time data updates. The graphical representation may benchmark activity data for a user to activity data for other users (or past activity data for the same user) to provide a comparative tool for a user. User Interface module 42 is operable to interface with an optional benchmarking module (not shown) to benchmark user data.

[00130] The User Interface module 42 is operable to generate graphical representations of data for the user, such as a scale, chart, line graph, bar graph, pie chart, and the like. The User Interface module 42 is operable to provide an interface showing electronic virtual currency redemption options, such as a catalogue of products and services, that the user may redeem using the electronic virtual currency. The User Interface module 42 is operable to provide an interface enabling the user to manage their account associated with the electronic virtual currency. The User Interface module 42 may also provide a graphical representation indicating a user's progress towards an activity or a target amount of the electronic virtual currency.

[00131 ] Accordingly, in some example embodiments, system 10 is operable to receive data from multiple sources evidencing a user's or a plurality of users' activities, via a Data Acquisition module 22, and to eventually issue, via a Reward Management module 34, the appropriate amount of electronic virtual currency based on the evidenced user activities. In some cases, the user activity may not be eligible for any rewards of electronic virtual currency for a variety of reasons including but not limited to non-complete, non-verified, and/or the activity is not on a pre-determined list of socially beneficial activity stored in the system.

[00132] System 10 is further operable to calculate an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the user activity, once verified and properly matched against the pre-determined list of socially beneficial activities, as described herein.

[00133] Data analytics module 26 may be operable to receive activity data, in a processed format, from Data Acquisition module 22. The Data analytics module 26 can analyze the user activity by checking against the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities and matching the received user activity to at least one entry ("corresponding activity") in the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities.

[00134] In one embodiment of the invention, the data analytics module 26 can detect at least one occurrence of the user activity based on the activity data received from the one or more activity monitors or data feeders. Such a detected occurrence of user activity may be a purchasing activity of an environmental friendly cleaner, or one or more periods of usage of electricity during low-demand hours in a day, or an hour of biking, and so on.

[00135] In one embodiment, the data analytics module 26 is also operable to verify that the user activity is completed. If it is not completed, zero or partial credit of the electronic virtual currency may be awarded to the user. For example, if the activity data indicates that the user has jogged, and one entry or corresponding activity in the list of predetermined list of activities is "jogging for at least an hour". The data analytics module can be operable to check the timestamp(s) of the received activity data and determining a duration of the activity, and then it can verify whether the user has jogged for at least an hour.

[00136] If Data analytics module 26 is not able to find a corresponding activity in the predetermined list of socially beneficial activities stored in the system, it may return, via user interface module 42, a result indicating that the activity submitted is not eligible for any rewards. As an option, the user may choose to request to add the activity as an entry in the list of pre-determined list of socially beneficial activities, at which point, the curation module 36 may be called upon to start a curation process accordingly.

[00137] If Data analytics module 26 is able to match the activity data to a corresponding activity in the pre-determined list of socially beneficial activities, the data analytics module 26 can call the Reward calculation module 28 to calculate, or otherwise determine an earned amount of the electronic virtual currency based on the matched corresponding activity. The Reward calculation module 28 may check a rules engine or a database to determine how much the earned amount should be with respect to each corresponding activity. In one embodiment, the pre-determined list of socially beneficial activities comprises data indicating a fixed earned amount associated with each activity in the list, and the Reward calculation module 28 can perform a lookup function in order to determine the earned amount of electronic virtual currency for a given user activity. In another embodiment, the Reward calculation module 28 may take a user's identify or other user profile data into consideration before computing an earned amount of electronic virtual currency for a user activity. For example, the Reward calculation module 28 may be operable to increase or decrease the fixed earned amount associated with each activity dependent on factors such as user's age, health conditions, and/or user preferences.

[00138] Once an earned amount of electronic virtual currency is determined by Reward calculation module 28, a Reward management module 34 may be called upon to issue the earned amount of electronic virtual currency to the user based on the user activity. The Reward management module 34 may issue the earned amount to a user account registered and stored with system 10. The total amount of available electronic virtual currency belonging to each user may be stored in a currency database, and the Reward management module 34 may be operable to update the currency database in real time or near real time to reflect the recently earned or redeemed amount of electronic virtual currency.

[00139] An authentication module 30 may be operable to authenticate user identity associated with each user activity received by system 10. It may also allow new users to register themselves via user interface module 42.

[00140] A user may request to redeem his or her electronic virtual currency via a catalogue website, described herein. Once such a user request is received, the Reward Redemption module 32 is operable to process the user request to fulfill his or her order placed via the catalogue website, and to deduct the appropriate amount of electronic virtual currency from the associated user account stored in the currency database 40.

[00141 ] The Reward redemption module 32 can be further operable to allow users to transfer his or her available amount of electronic virtual currency to another registered user under no or certain conditions.

[00142] Every time a currency amount is earned or redeemed by a user, an entry may be created and stored in the currency database 40 reflecting the historical currency data of each registered user. [00143] The Partner/ Enterprise module 24 may comprise integration components appropriate in order to receive and process data from partner or third party systems, such as from grocery stores, pharmacies, and the like. For example, the Partner/ Enterprise module 24 may comprise a partner integration platform as shown in Figs. 6b and 6c in order to integrate and process data received from partners/ enterprises.

[00144] As shown in Fig. 3, the partners or enterprises may include government agencies, grocery stores, airline carriers, banks, social media, hospitals, charities, newspapers, and the like. The partner/ enterprise module 24 is operable to link all partners and third party systems so that data relating to each registered user may be communicated in bulk or in smaller portions. This way, as shown in Fig. 3, an individual's actions in his or her surrounding environment can be continuously and reliably tracked and recorded, and may be rewarded accordingly.

[00145] A reporting module 38 may be operable to gather business intelligence data based on user activity data stored in activity database 45 and user currency data stored in the currency database 40. Reporting module 38 may be further operable to gather data from third party systems. Reporting module 38 may produce various trend reports, consumption reports, benchmark analysis, survey results analysis, dashboard reports, analytics and other forms of reports (see e.g. Figs. 8a and 8b) based on the data stored within system 10.

[00146] The example modular components of the system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 will now be described with reference to Fig. 2, which is a flowchart diagram that illustrates methods 200 for incentivizing users to perform socially beneficial activities. The method 200 may be implemented by system 10, and by a processor and a computer readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions being executable to configure the processor to implement the steps described herein.

[00147] Fig. 2 demonstrates a computer-implemented method implementable by a processor for incentivizing users to perform socially beneficial activities.

[00148] At step 210, the system may store a plurality of data records to a currency database, where each of the data record is associated with a user from a plurality of users and each record can reflect an amount, in real time or near real time, of electronic virtual currency belonging to the user.

[00149] At step 220, the system may receive and optionally store user activity data evidencing a user activity performed by a user. The system may be operable to process raw activity data into a format suitable for further processing and data mining. [00150] In one embodiment of the invention, the system may receive the user activity data from one or more activity monitors or data feeders. An example of activity monitor may be a Nike™ wearable motion sensor band, a Fitbit™ device, a Google™ Glass, a Samsung™ watch. An example of a data feeder may be a bluetooth device, a third-party database or system such as electricity usage database from a hydro provider, a patient health record database from a hospital, a credit card transaction database from a financial institution, a purchase history database from a grocery or supermarket store, a residential property database or any other kind of database from a government agency. The data feeder may further comprise an example social media application such as Facebook™, Tweeter™ or Instagram™.

[00151 ] At step 225, the system can detect at least one occurrence of the user activity based on the activity data received from the one or more activity monitors or data feeders. Such a detected occurrence of user activity may be a purchasing activity of an environmental friendly cleaner, or one or more periods of usage of electricity during low- demand hours in a day, or an hour of biking, and so on.

[00152] At step 230, the system may analyze the activity data to match the user activity to a corresponding activity from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities.

[00153] At step 240, the system may determine an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the corresponding activity; this earned amount may be a fixed amount with respect to each matched corresponding activity, or it may be different for different users.

[00154] At step 250, the system update the currency database to credit the user with the earned amount of electronic virtual currency.

[00155] At step 260, the system may optionally enable users to redeem a list of predetermined socially beneficial goods or services with his or her available amount of electronic virtual currency via a catalogue accessible online.

[00156] The system may be further operable to receive user feedback and comments and update the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods or services accordingly.

[00157] As shown in Figure 4, engagement system may include various components such as data acquisition 22, analytics and calculations, engagement and communications, rewards and results, and the like.

[00158] Data acquisition module 22 may receive input data from a variety of sources such as enterprise systems, real time data services, databases, batch data, surveys, and corporate goals, strategy and objectives. Data acquisition module 22 may involve cleansing, profiling, aggregating, correlating, securing, and ensuring privacy of received input data. [00159] Analytics and calculations may involve calculating health data, environmental damage, carbon footprints, efficiencies, emission, consumption, costs, and the like. Analytics and calculations may involve benchmarking individuals, users, and different segments. Analytics and calculations may involve calculating carbon offsets for rewards, individuals, users, and different segments. Analytics and calculations may involve determining and considering behavioral analytics for defining rules to encourage changes in behavior.

[00160] Engagement and communications may involve segmentation management, program management, program communication, goals and targets, content delivery, custom content, and social interfacing.

[00161] Rewards and results may involve rewards management, rewards catalogs, program measurement, feedback management, and response management.

[00162] As shown in Figure 5, engagement system may receive input data from human resource systems, student records systems, finance systems, IT print management systems, energy management systems, waste management systems, building/lighting management systems, warehouse and logistics management, traffic management, automobile management, survey management, and external databases, web services, and files. These are non-limiting examples only.

[00163] As shown in Figure 5, engagement system may be used for various applications, such as for example, Employee Engagement Solutions for Corporations, Tenant / Condo Engagement Solutions for Property Managers, Student Engagement Solutions for Schools & Higher Educators, Consumer Engagement Solutions for Retailers, Banks, Event Coordinators & Service Providers, and Citizens Engagement Solutions for Cities & Municipalities. These are non-limiting examples.

[00164] Figure 6a illustrates an example of engagement system 600 including data storage devices, such as reporting database 650, operational database 660, and staging database 670, for example. The system may further include end-user interfacing 610, end- user engagement management 620, information and processing and exchange 630, integration management 640, and the like.

[00165] End-user interfacing 610 may include a carbon offset management application 310 and a utility management application 315 (for residential or commercial). End-user interfacing 610 may include a content management system framework 320 including sign-on and secure interaction 322, content management 324, workflow management 326, and social interfacing 328. [00166] End-user engagement management 620 may include a reporting framework 330, a recommendation engine 340, and a communication framework 350. The reporting framework may include dashboards 332, canned reports 334, ad-hoc reports 336, and the like. A recommendation engine 340 may include goals and targets 342 for the engagement programs or for each user, actions and recommendations 346 associated with the goals or targets 342. A communication framework 350 may include social sharing and feedback 352, communication and alerts 356.

[00167] Information processing and exchange 630 may include an analytics framework 360 and a rule engine 370. An analytics framework may include a footprint analysis 362, efficiency analysis 364, and consumption analysis 366. The rules engine 370 may include rules and a rules processor 375. For example, the analytics framework 360, as part of a data analytics module 26, may receive or obtain data from operational database 660 which stores processed data by integration management 640. The analytics frame work 360 can be operable to analyze user activity data representing one or more user activities performed by a user, and further process and transform the user activity data into a format that is suitable to be compared to a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities. Due to the complexity and variety of third party systems that may send data to the data acquisition module 22 (e.g. via staging database 670), the analytics framework 360 is configured to work in an interoperable manner with the rules engine 370 in order to analyze the received user activity data and to match a detected occurrence of the user activity against the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities, based on a set of rules stored in the rules engine 370. The rules can define a set of data variables associated with the user activity data that must be of a certain value, or within a certain range, before a corresponding activity entry from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities can be matched with the received user activity data. Accordingly, the user activity data can be processed, parsed and transformed into a set of data variables, where the data variables as well as the value of each of the data variables are compared against one or more entries of the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities, based on the set of rules in the rules engine 370.

[00168] Integration management 640 may include an ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) framework 380 and a connector framework 390. The ETL framework 380 may include data summarization 385. The connector framework 390 may include CSV connector 392, JASON connector 394, web service connector 396 and the like.

[00169] In one embodiment of the invention, the integration management 640 may be operable to receive data from data feeding devices such as a staging DB 670, or alternatively from various third-party systems, such as a superstore's backend transaction system, a financial institution's record system, or a sensor's data transmitting interface. The ETL framework 380 is operable to cleanse and profile received data so that they can be further processed by other modules such as an analytics framework 360 or a data analytics module 26. The integration management 640 can be configured to optionally store all processed data in an operational database 660.

[00170] Figures 6b and 6c illustrate a further example of engagement platform 700. Engagement platform or system 700 may include or interface with a partner integration platform 410, a web channel 412, a mobile channel 414, a support center channel 416, an email channel 418, an enterprise ESB 420, a middleware environment 430, a landing environment 440, an ETL module 450, and a Data Warehouse Environment 460.

[00171 ] The partner integration platform 410 can include an authentication module 446 which can authenticate a partner ID as verified partner. The partner integration platform 410 can further include a Partner ESB 442 which communicates with the system enterprise ESB 420 to transmit and receive data in real-time or near real-time.

[00172] In one embodiment of the invention, the partner integration platform 410 is operable to receive data from a variety of third-party systems and databases such as financial records from a financial institution, an academic record from a university, a list of purchase history from a grocery store, a data batch representing electricity usage of one or more individuals from a hydro company, an income tax return from a government agency, and so on. The partner integration platform 410 can maintain and update a list of recognized or registered partners of the engagement platform, where each partner may be given a set of data transmitting or data accessing privileges based on a set of rules such as the partner's security clearance level, a role of the partner, and so on.

[00173] The web channel 412, which may be implemented by JBoss Portal and CMS, can be configured to provide an user interface to the users, as well as to the administrators of the system. The user interface may be managed by a user interface module as described in Fig. 1. The mobile channel 414 may be implemented by Tomcat, and is operable to provide a mobile application user interface tailored for and accessible by a mobile device. The support center channel 416 is an interface designed for platform administrators (e.g. VELO admins), through which the administrators can manage engagement programs and view reports. The email channel 418 is operable to send and distribute e-mail communications to all registered users, partners and administrators.

[00174] The Enterprise ESB 420 enables asynchronous communication and data exchange between the various system components such as middleware environment 430 and the partner integration platform 410. It includes various components such as security, queuing, registry, transform, orchestration, routing, messaging and management for different business objects or data structures such as member, campaign, sponsor, friends, offer, survey, product, news, points, activity and order.

[00175] The Middleware environment 430 includes authentication module 431 , social engine 432, rule engine 433, scheduler 434, operational business intelligence 435, recommendation engine 426, web services container 437 and business object container 438. These different components may work in an interoperable manner to provide: 1) a consistent data store comprising a currency database 40 to store a plurality of data records, each of the data record associated with a user account of a user from a plurality of users and defining an amount of electronic virtual currency for the user, wherein the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user stored in the currency database 40 is redeemable against a list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services; 2) a data acquisition module 22 to receive, through an electronic receiver, user activity data representing a user activity performed by a user from at least one data feeding device; 3) a data analytics module 26 to detect an occurrence of the user activity based on the user activity data received, wherein the detecting comprises processing and transforming the user activity data to match the transformed user activity data to a corresponding activity entry from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities; 4) a reward calculation module 28 to determine an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the corresponding activity entry and a set of socially beneficial factors associated with the corresponding activity entry; 5) a reward management module 34 to modify the data record associated with the user account of the user in the currency database in order to update the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user to include the earned amount of electronic virtual currency; and 6) a rewards redemption 32 module configured to enable the user to order at least one of goods and services stored in the list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services in exchange for some or all of the amount of electronic virtual currency for the user.

[00176] For example, as soon as a user is registered and authenticated, a data entry can be created for him in the currency database 40 with an initial amount of electronic virtual currency. The initial amount may be preset to 0, or may also be a different positive amount as a sign-up bonus. The amount of the electronic virtual currency in the currency database may be updated in real time or near real-time, and a user may check his or her available amount of the virtual currency any time online via the web channel 415 or mobile channel 420, provided he is successfully authenticated.

[00177] The authentication 431 can be operable to authenticate and authorize users and administrators via the web channel 412 or the mobile channel 414. [00178] The social engine 432 may be operable to enable users to share his or her thoughts and to receive feedback from other users. The social engine 432 can also send or receive information from a variety of social media portals or applications such as news, micro blogs, RSS feeds or alerts.

[00179] The rule engine 433, as described earlier, can store rules that define a set of data variables associated with received user activity data (e.g. from landing environment 440) that must be of a certain value, or within a certain range, before a corresponding activity entry from the list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities can be matched with the received user activity data. Accordingly, the user activity data can be processed, parsed and transformed into a set of data variables, where the data variables as well as the value of each of the data variables are compared against one or more entries of the list of predetermined socially beneficial activities, based on the set of rules in the rules engine 433.

[00180] The scheduler 434 can be operable to schedule, on a calendar or a reminder system, appointments, events, surveys, offers and other types of user activates.

[00181 ] The operational Bl 438 can comprise an analytics engine, similar to data analytics module 26, that can analyze, process, parse and transform received user activity data into a set of data variables, where the data variables as well as the value of each of the data variables can be further compared against one or more entries of the list of predetermined socially beneficial activities, based on the set of rules in the rules engine 433.

[00182] The recommendation engine 436 is operable to recommend offers, promotional materials, campaigns, activities and so on to users based on the user activities stored in the activity database 45 or in the data warehousing environment 460.

[00183] The business object container 438 includes member management, friends management, points adjudication (or currency adjudication), response management, points (or currency) account management, rewards management, offer evaluation, activity management, program management, commerce management, ranking management, notification management, offer management, sponsor/ partner management, normalization management, charity management, campaign management, catalog management, benchmarking management, and so on.

[00184] The web service container 437 can include member web services, points web services, campaign web services, activity web services, sponsor web services, survey web services, offer web services, product web services, order web services, friends web services, news web services and charity web services. [00185] The landing environment 440 includes a connector framework 445 and a staging database 476. The connector framework 445 can be operable to connect to various third party monitoring, tracking or sensing devices such as Nike™ connector, Fitbit™ connector, and so on. Each of the third party device can act as a data feeding device that interfaces with an electronic receiver (not shown) in the landing environment 440. The electronic receiver can transmit the data to the staging database 476 for further processing with ETL framework 450.

[00186] In one embodiment of the invention, a user may wear a motion sensor device (e.g. a form of data feeding device) that continuously tracks the user's location, speed, acceleration, altitude, and other parameters. The motion sensor device may be interfaced with a connector in the connector framework 445, and continuously sends real-time or near rea-time data to an electronic receiver of a data acquisition module 22 of the system 700. The received data can be a form of user activity data. Based on the user activity data, the system 700 may be operable, via a data analytics module 26, to parse and transform the user activity data into various data variables based on a set of rules in a rules engine 433, and determine if a user has been walking, running, jogging or driving. Each of the walking, running, jogging and driving activity may be an detected event that may be further matched with a corresponding activity entry from a list of pre-determined socially beneficial activities.

[00187] Each of the jogging, running, walking or driving activities may be further associated with a set of socially beneficial factors such as benefits to health, benefits to the environment, or benefits to others. Based on this set of socially beneficial factors, which may also be maintained and stored in a rules database in a rules engine, the reward calculation module 28 can be further operable to determine an earned amount of electronic virtual currency based on the matched corresponding activity entry and the associated set of socially beneficial factors.

[00188] In another embodiment of the invention, a user's home may be equipped with electricity usage monitoring device (e.g. a form of data feeding device) that is operable to monitor the electricity usage of the user's home and uploads the raw usage data to the system 700 via data acquisition module 22 or landing environment 440. The system 700 is further operable to compute various user interfaces showing the electricity usage (e.g. see Figs. 14 and 16a- 16c).

[00189] The ETL framework 450 is operable to cleanse and profile incoming data from landing environment 440 and other sources such as partner integration platform 410 and data warehousing environment 460. As shown, it may cleanse and profile data into different types such as email, activity, member, offer, campaign, survey, points, activity, sponsor, product, order, friends, news, weather, and activity. The ETL framework 450 can receive and transmit data to various databases and system components such as operational database 474 and landing database 466.

[00190] The data warehousing environment 460 can include a reports component 462 which can be configured to generate dashboards, canned reports or ad-hock reports based on user, admin or system requirements. The generated reports can be further stored in a reporting data mart 472. The data warehousing environment 460 can also include a business intelligence (Bl) framework (logistical analytics) component 464 which contains a reporting engine and an analytics engine. The reporting engine and analytics engine can be configured to generate various reports and dashboards based on data obtained from landing database 466 or Bl data mart database 470.

[00191] The generated reports may be provided to users, partners, sponsors, system administrators, and so on.

[00192] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram for an engagement management process according to some embodiments. As can be seen, member or users can interact with the system and are engaged by an Engagement Management that takes input from Rewards Management, Campaign Management, Relationship Management, Commerce Management, all of which can further provide actionable insights to Business Intelligence components that can produce various reports based on the insights and activities.

[00193] Figures 8a and 8b illustrate a block diagram of a business architecture of an engagement management module according to some embodiments. Engagement Management may include competition management, member behavior playback, social sharing management and so on. Rewards Management may include issuance processing, member management, redemption processing, points or currency adjudication, and so on. Interaction Management may include device activity tracking, member activity tracking, social media interaction tracking, and so on. Relationship Management may include support management, issue tracking, complaint management and so on. Campaign management may include campaign planning, offer management, campaign deployment and so on. Business intelligence may include benchmark analysis, trend analysis, consumption analysis and so on. Commerce Management may include catalog management, order management, pricing management, and so on.

Employee Engagement Solutions for Corporations

[00194] Employees are a critical part of a successful corporate sustainability program, but engaging them can be difficult. Enabling employees to understand how they can participate, get rewarded and achieve their sustainability goals can mean the difference between a successful program and failure. Our solutions for Employee Engagement bring employees into a customized employer program and give them the tools to participate.

[00195] The solution may include:

Employee Travel

Corporate travel cost reduction

Office Resource Use

Paper/Toner usage conservation

Recycling programs

Operational

Energy & water conservation

Fleet and Fuel optimization

Logistics & warehouse operations optimizations

Tenant / Condo Engagement Solutions for Property Managers

[00196] For property managers, helping tenants engage in energy reduction programs can result in incredible cost savings. However engagement rates in most buildings are very low, drastically decreasing the effectiveness of your energy efficiency programs. Our innovative approach to tenant engagement includes competitions and goal-setting to increase engagement by 10-15%, resulting in a direct ROI and making your program more successful.

[00197] The solutions for tenant engagement may include:

Energy & Water conservation

Tenant Recycling Programs

Common area maintenance & upkeep

Building maintenance projects

And more.

[00198] Engagement system may be used for engaging students and teachers on sustainability around the world. Student engagement tools may help students around the world learn about their environmental impact and discover ways to reduce it.

[00199] Solutions for education may include: Educational Environmental Programs

Student Health & Wellness

Energy & Water Conservation Programs

Recycling Programs

Paper/Toner usage conservation

School Maintenance Programs

And more.

Consumer Engagement Solutions

[00200] Helping customers discover and contribute to sustainability efforts can be a key part of a provider's sustainability program. Consumer engagement solutions may be designed to enhance the interaction with customers at every point of contact, increasing their knowledge and understanding of a brand's commitment to sustainability. Whether it's engaging customers at the latest event, or helping them understand the sustainability impacts of a brand. Our solutions help them identify and engage with sustainability initiatives.

[00201] Consumer Engagement Solutions may include:

Carbon neutral air travel, car rental, hotel stay & vacations packages

Carbon neutral shipping & logistics

Carbon neutral events & conferences

Events & conference attendee engagement

Other custom programs

Citizens Engagement Solutions for Cities & Municipalities

[00202] Municipal governments also have many challenges getting citizens to participate in sustainability efforts. Solutions for Citizen Engagement provide a platform for cities & municipalities to better engage individuals on environmental impact of household behavior and ways to be more sustainable. Increasing engagement in these programs helps make these programs more successful and provide a direct ROI on the taxpayer dollars used to implement these programs.

[00203] Our solutions for Citizen Engagement include:

Energy & Water Conservation Pollution Control Programs

Transit Promotion

Organic collection & recycling promotion programs

Downtown core traffic awareness programs

[00204] Figure 9 illustrates a system block diagram for providing an engagement platform according to some embodiments. Engagement system may include various components, such as end-user interfacing 810, partner management 820, end-user engagement management 830, extension management 860, information processing and exchange 840, integration management 850, and the like.

[00205] End-user interfacing 830 may include various components, such as secure interaction 811 , content management 812, web/mobile enablement 813, social interfacing 814, plug and play content 815, and the like.

[00206] Partner management 820 may include various components, such as partner management 821 , partner billing 822, loyalty and rewards 823, supplier referrals 824, media management 825, and the like.

[00207] End-user engagement management 830 may include various components, such as surveys and questioners 831 , dashboards and reports 832, goals and rewards 833, actions and recommendations 834, communication and alerts 835, share and feedback 836, transaction presentment 837, media presentment 838, and the like.

[00208] Extension management 860 may include various components, such as custom content 861 , customer engagement 862, customer presentation 863, customer analysis 864, custom processing 865, and the like.

[00209] Information processing and exchange 840 may include various components, such as carbon footprint analysis 841 , efficiency analysis 842, consumption analysis 843, emissions analysis 844, behavioral analysis 845, cost analysis 846, offset analysis 847, benchmark analysis 848, and the like.

[00210] Integration management 850 may include various components, such as information security 851 , transaction acquisition 852, information delivery 853, analysis delivery 854, third party interfacing 855, and the like.

[0021 1 ] Figure 10 is a flow diagram for providing an sustainability engagement program according to some embodiments. As shown, a VELO admin process 900 is illustrated to shown an engagement program process. At step 910, a segment of end-users to be included in a particular engagement program may be created, including end-user data 912 and behaviour data 914. At step 920, an eud-user's engagement program may be created and assigned to the target segment, which may incorporate program objectives 916. At step 930, incentives and rewards may be established. At step 940, email campaigns or offers may be generated and executed as part of the engagement program. The emails may be sent out through Engagement Portal 980 to end-users 990 (or simply users). At step 950, program engagement level and activities are tracked and measured; program success may also be computed. An end-user engagement metrics 955 may be generated. At step 960, for users with positive behaviour change, rewards in the form of GOODcoins or other types of electronic virtual currency may be issued to the users and further redeemed against a catalogue containing a list of pre-determined socially beneficial goods and services.

[00212] Embodiments described herein may provide full service sustainability engagement enablement tools and services tailored to meet an individual's or corporation's goals and objectives. Embodiments described herein may provide different levels of engagement. For example, individual engagement (e.g. youth and adult engagement through carbon footprint assessment, body-mass assessment, cardio assessment), household engagement (e.g. household engagement through utility consumption and bill presentment, energy efficiency calculation, household driving efficiency calculation), corporate engagement (e.g. employee and management level, corporate engagement through utility consumption and bill presentment, energy efficiency calculation, conference/convention energy footprint calculation, fleet driving efficiency calculation, greenhouse gas emission calculations). These are non-limiting examples.

Sustainability Engagement - Individual

[00213] Youth & adult engagement may be provided through carbon footprint assessment, body-mass assessment, cardio assessment, etc.. Embodiments described herein may initiate engagement via surveys and questioners. Embodiments described herein may perform respective analysis based on the inflow of data. Embodiments described herein may communicate the results through bench marks and comparisons using dashboards and reports. Embodiments described herein may enable an individual to share their results on social media. Embodiments described herein may initiate a dialog with actions and recommendations, and continue the dialog though email, text and social media and help to reengage and reassess.

Sustainability Engagement - Household

[00214] Embodiments described herein may provide household engagement through utility consumption and bill presentment, energy efficiency calculation, driving efficiency calculation, and the like. Embodiments described herein may initiate engagement via loading data from real-time and batch data providers. Embodiments described herein may perform respective analysis based on the inflow of data. Embodiments described herein may communicate the results through bench marks and comparisons using dashboards and reports. Embodiments described herein enable households to share their results on social media. Embodiments described herein may initiate dialog on actions and recommendations. Embodiments described herein may provide referrals to preferred subcontractors and suppliers to action on the recommendations. Embodiments described herein may initiate dialog on goals and rewards. Embodiments described herein may provide referrals to with partners to achieve their desired goals. Embodiments described herein may continue the dialog though email, text & social media and help to reengage and reassess.

Sustainability Engagement - Corporate

[00215] Embodiments described herein may provide corporate engagement through utility consumption and bill presentment, energy efficiency calculation, conference/convention energy footprint calculation, fleet driving efficiency calculation, greenhouse gas emission calculations, and the like. Embodiments described herein may initiate engagement via loading data from real-time and batch data providers. Embodiments described herein may configure corporate goals and objectives. Embodiments described herein may perform respective analysis based on the inflow of data. Embodiments described herein may communicate the results through bench marks and comparisons using dashboards and reports. Embodiments described herein may share corporate results on social media. Embodiments described herein may initiate dialog on actions and recommendations. Embodiments described herein may provide referrals to preferred subcontractors and suppliers to action on the recommendations. Embodiments described herein may initiate dialog on goals and rewards. Embodiments described herein may provide referrals to with partners to achieve their desired goals. Embodiments described herein may perform response and behavioral analysis based on the end-user actions. Embodiments described herein may asses the responses against the corporate goals and objectives. Embodiments described herein may realign and reengage.

[00216] An administrative tool may be used by sustainability program administrators to configure engagement programs. For example, the administrative tool may enable administrators to create a segment of end-users to be included in a particular engagement program, which may involve processing of end-user data, behavioral data, and the like. The administrative tool may enable administrators to create an end-user engagement program and assign it to the target segment in view of program objectives. The administrative tool may enable administrators to establish incentives and rewards. The administrative tool may enable administrators to generate the email campaign and execute the engagement program, such as through an engagement portal that may interact or integrate with social platforms and portals. The administrative tool may enable administrators to track and measure success through end-user engagement metrics. The administrative tool may enable administrators to reward the behavior change such as though reward point issuance and redemption.

[00217] Embodiments described herein may provide Employee Engagement programs via web and mobile portal that will be accessed via a network to the employee community. The Employee Engagement portal may be configured with the following capabilities:

Employee Dashboard: A landing page providing a quick view into the employee carbon footprint, access to corporate social media & quick glance at their engagement programs

Engagement Programs: Employees will have access to various engagement programs they have signed-up for or programs for which the participation may be mandated

Engagement Programs & Program communication

Fleet , Driving & Warehouse Efficiency Programs

Employee Health & Wellness Program

Print Reduction Program

Personal Carbon Survey: Access to a personal carbon survey through which an employee's carbon footprint is calculated.

Benchmarks & Scorecards: Personal carbon footprint benchmarking enabling employees to compare their carbon footprint with other employees

Tools & Tips: Custom content containing sustainability 'Tips'

Sustainability News: Custom content containing sustainability 'News'

[00218] Employer administrators may have access to an Admin module providing engagement program management, employee communication, reports and analytics capabilities.

[00219] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing fleet, driving and warehouse efficiency program according to some embodiments. The program may encourage positive driver related behavior such as driver efficiency and safety, for example. An objective may be set for the engagement program, such as to promote fleet drivers to improve fuel economy by 10%. Employer benefits may include engaging fleet drivers to improve fuel economy through efficient driving. Efficient driving may be measured through fuel economy and driver safety and the metrics can be connected to employees' KPI's. Additional rewards may be provided in the form of bonus points. Efficient driving will save fuel cost but will also improve the life span of fleet vehicles and decreasing maintenance cost. Employee benefits may include safer and efficient driving experience and rewards points redeemable for cash bonuses. Incentive and rewards provide that efficient and safe drivers may be awarded with reward points which may be redeemable for cash bonus.

[00220] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing a health and wellness program according to some embodiments. The program may encourage positive health and wellness related behavior such as walking 30 minutes a day, for example. An objective may be set for the engagement program, such as to promote health and wellness to all office employees. Employer benefits may include encouraging employees to walk during breaks and lunch time every day. Several methods to measure the number of steps taken include: a pedometer, a walk band or a Smartphone application. The results may be tied to each employee's Health and Wellness Key Performance Indicator (KPI). Competitions between departments may also be held to stimulate employee engagement. Employee benefits may include improved overall health from walking leading to an increase in productivity, greater connection amongst employees through social cohesion, and financial rewards for their efforts. The incentives and rewards may include a point system where employees can redeem their earned health and wellness flex dollars to upgrade their insurance coverage plan. The results from this program will also be tied to their Health and Wellness KPI's.

[00221] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of an engagement system for providing a print reduction program according to some embodiments. The program may encourage positive environmental sustainability related behavior such as reducing paper to save trees. An objective may be set for the engagement program, such as to encourage employees to reduce the use of paper by 10%. Employer benefits may include encouraging employees to reduce the amount of paper used for everyday tasks. Paper usage will be tracked using employee-printing cards and an assessment of their behavior will be connected to their KPI's. Reduce operating cost on paper, toner, storage, copying, printing, postage, disposal and recycling. Employee benefits may include becoming more educated and aware of the environmental benefits of paper reduction and using these skills in their personal life and save money and environment. Rewards points may be awarded as incentive to change behavior and the accumulated points can be used with any redemption partner. [00222] Figures 14, 20 and 21 are example user interfaces providing a user dashboard or summary according to some embodiments. The dashboard may provide pages for benchmarking, engagement programs, tips, news, and so on. The dashboard may provide a data feed from various sources such as news and social media. The dashboard may provide a summary view of the user's carbon emissions footprint if the engagement program relates to sustainabiiity and reducing consumption and emissions from an individual's activities. The dashboard may include a current number of electronic virtual currency earned from user activities. In particular, Figure 14 illustrates the electricity consumed by a user on a given day.

[00223] Figure 15 illustrates user interface providing an user survey according to some embodiments. The survey may be used to collect data regarding a user for use in the engagement program. Completion of the surveys may enable the users to earn a certain amount of electronic virtual currency such as GOODcoins.

[00224] Figures 16a-16c illustrate user interfaces for benchmarking according to some embodiments. In this example, a gauge may be provided to show how a user's electricity usage compared to the general public or his or her friends, colleagues or peers. The benchmarking may be provided for multiple activities such as print, electricity, flight, vehicle, waste, and water, for example.

[00225] Figure 17 illustrate example user interface for engagement programs according to some embodiments. The interface may provide a listing of all engagement programs and campaigns that a user is enrolled in, the time remaining for each, the progress, and the status.

[00226] Figure 18 illustrates an example user interface providing offers according to some embodiments. The interface may provide offers or tips for increasing sustainabiiity or improving health, and encourage sustainable or healthy behavior. Completion of the offers may earn the user a certain amount of electronic virtual currency.

[00227] Figure 19 is an example user interface providing a variety of third party data feeding devices which may be used to monitor and send user activity data to the engagement system.

[00228] Figure 20 illustrates benchmarked data in relation to a driving activity by a user, which further illustrates statistics such as distance, duration, fuel consumption, fuel efficiency, maximum speed, maximum acceleration, maximum deceleration. As shown, the system is further operable to demonstrate kilometers and hours data based on the driving activity. In one embodiment of the invention, the driving activity can be tracked and monitored by a Mojio™ or another type of device (see e.g. Figure 19) that can be plugged into a vehicle and is operable to sense, monitor and record a car's movements, speed, location, and other types of parameters in real time or real-time. These monitored data can be sent to the engagement system via electronic receivers connected to or as a part of a data acquisition module 22.

[00229] Figure 21 illustrates benchmarked data in relation to a walking activity by a user, and further illustrates statistics such as steps, minutes, meters, calories and how the user did compared to last week.

[00230] Figures 22a-22c show example values and categories that may be provided by a catalogue for redemption of electronic virtual currency. For example the main categories may be home & garden, personal care, food, sports & outdoor, electronics & gadgets, kids & baby, pets, apparel & accessories, and so on.

[00231] Figure 23 provides an example program taxonomy design in relation to an electronic virtual currency. Multiple programs may be set up and managed by the engagement platform. A global program 1090 may be set up based on the following parameters: ability to create national offers, campaigns, fundraisers & surveys, ability to setup sponsors globally, and ability to setup rewards globally.

[00232] National programs 1062, 1064, 1066 may be created for multiple countries or jurisdictions under the global program 1090. For each national program, it may be created based on: ability to create national offers, campaigns, fundraisers & surveys; ability to setup sponsors nationally; ability to setup rewards nationally, ability for a member to join a national program and ability for a member to move one program to another.

[00233] Multiple community programs 1072, 1074, 1076 may be created for each national program, based on the following parameters:

• Ability to create community branded web presence for the community

• Entry criteria: minimum 25K members

• Community programs are launched with a partner by GOODcoins. Partners

support the community monetarily, memberships, sponsorships or combination of all.

• Offers, campaigns, fundraisers & surveys can be inherited down the program

hierarchy

• Sponsors and rewards can be inherited down the program hierarchy

• Ability to setup custom GOODcoins pouches within a community

• Ability to setup sponsors at community level • Ability to setup rewards at community level

• Ability to restrict offers, campaigns, fundraisers & surveys inheritance from

national programs

• Ability for a member to join a community program

• Ability for a member to move one community to another

• Ability to restrict members from joining or leaving a community program

[00234] Multiple sub-community programs 1082, 1084 and 1086 may be created for each community program based on the following parameters:

• Ability for a members or organizations to create a sub-community

• Entry criteria: minimum 50 members

• Ability for a members or organizations to administrate this sub community

• Ability for a members or organizations to setup sponsors at a sub-community level

• Ability for a members or organizations to setup campaigns & events at sub; and community level

[00235] It will be appreciated that numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well- known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, this description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein in any way, but rather as merely describing implementation of the various embodiments described herein.