Digital

Building joined-up digital public services in Scotland

June 18, 2026 by Stewart Hamilton No Comments | Category Digital, Digital Strategy, Public services

Blog post by Isaac Smith, Deputy Director for Digital Components and Infrastructure.

Over the past few years, Scotland has made significant progress in delivering digital infrastructure to support public services. As more of these services are made available there is an increasing need to manage them as a holistic suite of products rather than focusing on individual services.  

This shift towards more connected services aligns closely with the Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform Strategy (PSR), which emphasises the need for services to be more integrated, preventative, and centred around people’s needs. It also reflects the Digital Strategy for Scotland – a shared vision between the Scottish Government and local government – to deliver inclusive, ethical, and accessible digital services that work seamlessly across organisational boundaries. 

People do not think about public services in terms of different systems or organisations. They simply want to do what they need to do quickly and easily. That is why the focus is shifting from creating separate digital services to building a more connected, joined-up system. 

From separate services to a seamless ecosystem 

Now that many of our core components have reached a good level of maturity and scale, the challenges and opportunities have changed. 

The priority is no longer just about building platforms, but more about connecting them into a seamless ecosystem – where services work together behind the scenes so that people experience something simple, consistent and joined-up. 

This means designing beyond single services and thinking about the overall experience: how identity, payments, secure messaging, workflow management, and future functionality come together as part of one coherent multi-channel journey. This move towards integration directly supports Scotland’s public service reform ambitions, helping reduce fragmentation and making it easier for people to access support without navigating organisational boundaries. 

Building on shared foundations 

A key part of this approach is using shared platforms that different services can build on. For example: 

• ScotAccount allows people to prove who they are securely online 

• Digital Mailbox provides a safe place to receive messages from public services 

• ScotPayments handles payments across different services 

• ePass supports applications for licences and permits 

These common building blocks have now reached significant scale. Over 750,000 ScotAccount’s have been created and ScotPayments handles billions of pounds each year. By reusing and integrating our digital infrastructure, we have been able to develop services faster, reduce duplication, and create a more consistent experience for users. 

This approach reflects the Digital Strategy’s emphasis on common components and reusable capabilities – enabling collaboration across public services and supporting delivery at scale. 

Creating a single, simpler experience 

Bringing services together also means improving how people access them. 

The upcoming Scottish Government app will provide a simple way to access services from a mobile phone. At the same time, MyGov is being updated to offer a more modern and personalised online experience. 

Together, these will act as front doors into a broader ecosystem – giving people different ways to access services while keeping the experience consistent and easy to use. 

We are already seeing what this can look like in practice. For example, MyCare.scot brings together identity verification and secure messaging into one service, making it easier for people to manage aspects of their health and social care online. 

Working in partnership 

This progress has not been achieved alone. Delivering joined-up digital public services depends on strong collaboration across the public and private sectors. 

Partnerships with Scottish Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in bringing innovation, flexibility, and specialist expertise. This approach has been supported by the CivTech programme and we are now working closely with delivery partners to create an ecosystem of suppliers.  

We continue to work with local authorities and other public sector organisations to ensure that services can operate effectively across organisational boundaries. 

Part of a wider global shift 

Scotland’s approach is consistent with how leading digital governments are evolving internationally. 

Countries such as Denmark and Singapore have taken a similar path – investing in shared digital infrastructure like identity, payments and messaging, and then focusing on integrating these into seamless, end-to-end services. 

This reflects a broader shift in digital government: from building individual systems to creating connected ecosystems that are designed around people’s needs. 

Why this matters 

Joining up services makes a real difference. It means people have: 

• fewer forms to fill in 

• less need to provide the same information 

• quicker and more straightforward processes 

• a more consistent experience across services 

It also helps public services work more efficiently, by reducing duplication and making better use of shared systems. 

More fundamentally, it supports a shift towards services that are organised around people, rather than organisational structures. 

Looking ahead 

There is still more to do. As services grow, so does the complexity of connecting them. But the progress made so far means Scotland has strong, mature foundations to build on. 

The focus is clear: continue strengthening integration, expand the ecosystem of shared platforms, and keep improving how people experience public services. 

By doing this – and by continuing to work in partnership across the public and private sectors – Scotland is moving closer to a future where public services feel seamless, responsive, and truly built around the needs of people and businesses. 

We’re continuing to work with public sector partners to build more integrated services. If you’re part of a public organisation interested in using Scottish Government digital components and infrastructure or learning more, please contact: deliver.digital@gov.scot 

Tags: Digital Mailbox, digital public services, Digital Strategy for Scotland, ePass, ScotAccount, ScotPayments

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