Stewart Hamilton
Written 234 posts
Communications and Engagement Officer
Communications and engagement – insights from the Technology Assurance Framework
4th March 2026
Guest blog by Anneka Davie, Continuous Improvement team, Digital Assurance Office. The Digital Assurance Office (DAO), who administer the Technology Assurance Framework (TAF), share the lessons learned from major digital project reviews to support others to deliver more successful projects. By analysing the recommendations from our major digital project reviews, we can identify common challenges. In…
Introducing the Scottish Government’s Data for Research: Change Management Board
3rd March 2026
Blog by Helen Davidson, Communications and Engagement Manager, ADR Scotland. In November 2025, the Scottish Government established the Data for Research: Change Management Board, marking an important step toward streamlining how Scotland manages, shares and uses administrative data for public good research. Chaired by the Chief Statistician Alastair McAlpine, the Board is in line with the Vision for Public Sector Data in Scotland and the recently launched Digital Strategy centred around Scotland’s ambition to harness data responsibly and effectively…
Help shape Scotland’s Open Data future – Imagining success in 2036
17th February 2026
I’m Martin Macfie, and I lead the Open Data team in the Data Division of the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate. We’re inviting you to take part in a short workshop to help shape a bold, future-focused message for open data in Scotland. What we’ve been working on Since publishing the independent report on open data…
Scotland’s LiDAR revolution: First data release to reveal Scotland’s landscape in unprecedented detail
29th January 2026
Guest blog by Prof. Mathew Williams, Scottish Government Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. We are pleased to announce this week the first release of data from Scotland’s new national land Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) programme, delivered by the Scottish Government with multiple partners. The goal of the programme is to…
Putting users at the heart of ScotAccount: How research shaped the service
26th January 2026
Developed by the Scottish Government, ScotAccount launched in 2023 and delivers the Digital Strategy commitment to provide a secure and simple way for people to sign-in and, if needed, verify who they are and that they are eligible for a public service or benefit online.
Enabling faster, secure access to data by industry for public benefit
22nd January 2026
Guest blog post by Roger Halliday, Chief Executive, Research Data Scotland (RDS), on how RDS is developing a framework to support faster, secure access to Scotland’s public sector data by industry partners, on behalf of the Scottish Government. This guest blog is part of a series on the Unlocking the Value of Data programme. At…
Creating the service patterns cards
22nd December 2025
Blog post by Kirsty Sinclair, User-Centred Design, Lead Service Designer, and Anusree Raju, Senior Interaction Designer. This is blog post three of three. Read the previous blogs in the series. Service pattern design work is supporting the adoption of common digital solutions and promoting reuse across services, aligning with the refreshed Digital Strategy for Scotland…
Practical application of reusable service patterns on a real service use case
19th December 2025
Blog post by Kirsty Sinclair, User-Centred Design, Lead Service Designer, and Anusree Raju, Senior Interaction Designer. This is blog two of a three blog series. Read blog post one. Service pattern design work is supporting the adoption of common digital solutions and promoting reuse across services, aligning with the refreshed Digital Strategy for Scotland vision…
Reusable service patterns in Scottish public sector services
18th December 2025
Blog post by Kirsty Sinclair, User-Centred Design, Lead Service Designer, and Anusree Raju, Senior Interaction Designer. Service pattern design work is supporting the adoption of common digital solutions and promoting reuse across services, aligning with the refreshed Digital Strategy for Scotland vision statement: Sustainable Digital Public Services. Reusable service patterns is a term for design…
ScotAccount is finalist in Delivering for Citizens Award – transforming access to public services in Scotland
11th December 2025
Blog post by Trudy Nicolson, ScotAccount Programme Director, the Scottish Government. We’re delighted to share that ScotAccount was a finalist in the Delivering for Citizens Award at the 2025 Civil Service Awards, a recognition of teams that put people first and deliver measurable improvements to public services. As the only submission from the Scottish Government to be shortlisted from a total…