Stewart Hamilton
Written 236 posts
Communications and Engagement Officer
Technology Assurance Framework – what we learned from Major Digital Project Reviews in 2025-26
24th June 2026
Guest blog by Anneke Davie, Audit and Assurance Insights team, Digital Assurance Office. In 2025-26, 45 major digital project reviews were completed under the Technology Assurance Framework (TAF). These reviews generated 345 recommendations for improvement. These recommendations have been analysed to identify common challenges and are shared to support others to deliver more successful projects. This blog…
Building joined-up digital public services in Scotland
18th June 2026
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…
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…