deborahamzil
Written 47 posts
Better public services start with better capability
26th October 2026
Dean Rhodes, Senior Agile Coach in the Scottish Digital Academy blogs about evolving their learning offer to help more people develop the skills, confidence and connections needed to drive transformation across Scotland’s public sector. Investing in learning, Investing in transformation At the Scottish Digital Academy, we’re passionate about helping people across the public sector develop…
Stage 2 Digital Transformation: SRO reflections on the value of independent assurance
21st October 2026
Blog by Niamh Duncan, Independent Assurance Stakeholder Communications Manager in the Scottish Government’s Digital Assurance Office. The Digital Assurance Office (DAO) are working with major digital projects who have received independent assurance through the Technology Assurance Framework (TAF) to share their experiences. In our recent blogs we shared insights from the Care Inspectorate’s Stage 2 Digital Transformation…
Digital Licensing: Building a Smarter, Simpler Future for Licensing Services in Scotland
21st October 2026
Blog post by Mark Grey, Digital Licensing Service Owner in the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate. Licensing, permitting and registration services play a vital role in protecting communities, supporting businesses and enabling economic growth. The Scottish Government’s Digital Licensing solution provides an opportunity to help organisations deliver modern, user-centred services while benefiting from common tools, processes…
Unlocking the Value of Linked NHS and Robotic Surgery Data
11th August 2026
Blog post by Chris Bergin, Strategic Data Policy Adviser, Digital Citizen Division in the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate The Scottish Government’s ambition is to unlock the value of public sector personal data through secure and responsible innovation to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland. The Unlocking the Value of Data (UVOD) programme…
Strengthening the Foundations of ScotPayments
27th July 2026
Megan Abbott, Lead Business Relationship Manager in the Scottish Government’s ScotPayments team shares an update on ScotPayments progress. As Scotland’s common payments platform, ScotPayments helps public sector organisations make payments that people depend on every day. Behind every payment is an expectation that services are reliable, secure and available when needed. In a previous…
What keeps Scotland connected? The hidden infrastructure behind everyday life
23rd July 2026
Robbie McGhee, Deputy Director of Digital Connectivity based within the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate blogs about digital infrastructure. More than just broadband When people ask me what I do, and what my team leads on, they tend to think about broadband. But digital connectivity is much bigger than that. It is one of the foundations on which modern Scotland relies. Every day, millions of…
Scottish Government Digital Academy: Progress Update on Deliverables
16th July 2026
Lee Dunn, head of the Scottish Government Digital Academy provides an update on the progress being delivered through the Scottish Government Digital Academy. The Digital Strategy Vision Statement and the Sustainable Public Services Delivery Plan were published in November 2025. Co-owned by the Scottish Government and Local Government (Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and COSLA) these documents…
The most common myths about User Research (and why they persist)
13th July 2026
Aileen Baxter, Lead User Researcher at Social Security Scotland blogs about some common myths around user research. User research has never been more important in government, yet it remains widely misunderstood. Even as research becomes more embedded in teams, misconceptions still exist about what it is, when it should be used, and the value it…
Moving beyond clear and simple to reach overwhelmed users
9th July 2026
Sarah Waterfield, Senior Content Designer blogs about using a test and learn approach to improving letters issued by Social Security Scotland. Imagine you’ve waited months for an important decision. One that will shape your daily life. The process has been long and sometimes difficult: gathering documents, sharing personal health information, asking for help, then the…
Why our team blogs
26th June 2026
Claire Robertson, Senior Content Designer in Social Security Scotland guest blogs about the value of blogging. On the 2 year (ish) anniversary of our Social Security Scotland content design blog, I thought it would be useful to reflect on the value of blogging and how it has helped our team. What do other teams think…