Open Government Team
Written 14 posts
Action Plan Co-creation Interim Report: introduction from Juliet Swann
12th February 2026
Survey after survey tells us that trust in democratic institutions is declining. As Scotland’s Open Government Partnership, we believe that working to support the principles of open government – transparency, accountability, inclusion and participation – can help foster trust. But we wanted to test that theory: If public trust in government is lacking, what would…
Join us for phase 2: co-creating Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan 2026-2030
12th February 2026
SCDC have now published their findings from our public engagement on trust in government. Read the report These findings were used to develop options for phase 2 of the co-creation of Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan. Phase 2 now brings civil society representatives and government together. In 4 themed workshops we will put forward and…
What does phase 2 of Action Plan co-creation mean?
8th December 2025
Wrapping up phase 1 We are reaching the end of phase 1 of the Open Government Action Plan co-creation process. We have spent phase 1 listening and trying to understand what makes a trustworthy and transparent government. You can find out more about what has come out of discussions that SCDC has been running with…
Community conversations on trust in government with SCDC: snapshot summary
8th December 2025
Over the last week or so the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) team have been speaking to people from across Scotland to hear their views on what trust and transparency in government means to them. While the process is very much ongoing, we wanted to provide a brief snapshot of our discussions so far. what…
Approaching the debate on trust in Scottish Government – Guest post from Lilli Wolland Blomberg, PhD intern
5th December 2025
In August 2025 we welcomed Lilli Wolland Blomberg from the University of Edinburgh Law School as a PhD intern to the Open Government Team. Her research focus is to examine the knowledge on trust in government. We see a global trend of declining trust in governments, which is argued to pose a challenge for democracies…
An update on our trust and transparency work from Juliet Swann, Co-chair of the Open Government Steering Group
17th October 2025
Why do people trust or distrust government? At the last Open Government Steering Group meeting we tried to figure out how we might find answers to this question. We want to know what makes people feel they can trust a person or an institution. We also want to learn how distrust develops and grows, and…
Involving people in developing, designing, and improving health and care services in Scotland: an introduction
12th September 2025
Rachel Dowle from the Office of the Chief Designer tells us what it is like being part of the team driving forwards the very first Open Government commitment for Health and Social Care in Scotland. This piece is the first of a number of posts that Rachel and the team will publish, exploring different aspects…
A conversation with Sarah Davidson on trust and the First Minister’s Democracy Gathering
7th August 2025
Sarah Davidson, Chief Executive of Carnegie UK, spoke on the importance of trust in politics and institutions to an audience of civil society representatives, faith leaders, trade unions, and politicians at the First Minister’s democracy gathering in April. This event saw a commitment to taking action to safeguard Scotland’s democracy. We had a chance to…
Open Data: Working Together and Innovating for Impact
4th August 2025
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government’s Open Data Team worked with a group from the University of Edinburgh’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation MSc programme. Louise Meikleham, Senior Data Policy Officer, reflects on the project and its impact. Open data is often seen as a tool to fuel innovation, grow the economy, empower communities and drive transparency….
Hope plus delivery equals trust
6th June 2025
Following the First Minister’s Democracy Gathering in April, we asked if the speakers from the event could contribute their reflections to our blog. Juliet Swann, from Transparency International UK and co-chair of the Open Government Steering Group is the first to offer their thoughts. Reflections from Juliet Swann When the First Minister announced he was…