Stewart Hamilton

Written 211 posts

Communications and Engagement Officer

Basic Law-Making For Legislative Computer Systems – Part 2

4th September 2023

This is the second of five articles outlining the research of the BIus project – Basic Law-Making For Legislative Computer Systems. Read the first here – it outlines the problems of connecting slow legislative iteration to fast digital development processes.

Read more

Basic Law-Making For Legislative Computer Systems – Part 1

28th August 2023

We know that the law and government is also an iterative process. Laws are passed, and retrospectively amended. Acts of parliament (primary legislation) grants Ministers powers to make and remake law by orders (secondary legislation) and civil servants the powers to write and rewrite ordinary regulations.

Read more

Data Maturity programme update

11th July 2023

Providing a Data Transformation Framework (DTF) that will meet all the data improvement needs that an organisation might want to address is a challenging proposition. To help with the early stages of developing the DTF, we wanted an approach that would provide focus, identifying shared needs and creating support that was useful straight away.

Read more

ScotAccount – pilot with Disclosure Scotland

23rd June 2023

The digital identity service, ScotAccount, went live in partnership with Disclosure Scotland, as a pilot, which we call ‘private beta’ at the end of February 2023. ScotAccount has been integrated into Disclosure Scotland’s new online service, providing users with digital access to their disclosure results. This supports delivery of the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020.

Read more

Data maturity information sessions for public sector organisations

9th June 2023

Many public sector organisations know they want to use their data more effectively, but are unsure where to start. It can feel too difficult to tackle but if it’s not addressed, over time, it can become a large issue that impacts on wider business outcomes. The Data Maturity programme we run with the Scottish public sector can help organisations understand what they want to achieve with data, where they are now, and how to set achievable outcomes.

Read more

Independent Expert Group delivers Unlocking the Value of Data report

10th May 2023

I write this blog post at the end of the week in which the Independent Expert Group (IEG) on Unlocking the Value of Data (UVOD) delivered our final report to the Scottish Government. The IEG has been in existence for just over a year, and comprises a multi-stakeholder group of experts from different domains and disciplines united by our interest in public sector personal data and how it can be accessed by the private sector.

Read more

Digital Inclusion Symposium in Scotland: Thriving in a digital world

3rd May 2023

The symposium provided an opportunity for Scotland to showcase its digital inclusion work such as the Connecting Scotland programme and highlighted its ambitions in developing Scotland as an ethical digital nation. 

Read more

Unlocking the Value of Data for Equality

26th April 2023

Guest blog by Carol Young, Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights My organisation, the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER), welcomed the chance to be involved in Scottish Government’s work on Unlocking the Value of Public Sector Data for Public Benefit. Through membership of the Independent Expert Group (IEG), I was able to bring…

Read more

Gold award for Connecting Scotland at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards

13th March 2023

Connecting Scotland won Gold in the ‘Working Together’ category at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards in London on Wednesday 8 March 2023.

Read more

Improving search functionality for mygov.scot

9th March 2023

Blog by Jennifer I’anson, Product Manager, Digital Directorate. The mygov.scot development team and Design System team (Digital Publishing) have been working on implementing and integrating a new search product on https://mygov.scot. The product we have chosen is Squiz Funnelback and this replaces the basic search capability within our content management system (CMS). On the 2nd…

Read more