Scotland's Economy

Scotland’s Digital Future

September 19, 2012 by John Swinney MSP No Comments | Category innovation, Public Services

Digital technology has changed the way we view the world and there is no doubt that it can also change the way we do things in delivering public services.

Today I launched a strategy to help shape Scotland’s Digital Future in the Delivery of Public Services. It has been developed with and for the public sector as a whole, that is health, local government, further and higher education and police and fire, and of course Scottish Government.

This document sets out our vision and it will help shape how we move forward with our priority of public service reform over the coming years.

I want to see the needs of users put at the heart of our services and digital technology can allow us to do that. Online services mean that we can access information when we require it, pay a bill or even arrange social care in a simple and quick way. The strategy outlines how different organisations can join up across all sectors to deliver services in a more responsive way.

Service providers are already making progress and today’s Twitter 24 event, where I launched the strategy, is good example of collaboration. Councils and partners are working together using the social networking site Twitter to raise awareness of the range of services they provide and let people know how they can use and get the most out of these.

The strategy also builds on the work of John McClelland, who carried out a review of public sector ICT infrastructure, and that of the Christie Commission which looked at the future of public services in Scotland. Both identified ways for us to use digital technology to improve delivery and also make savings which could be worth more than a billion pounds. That is why there is a strong focus on collaboration in the framework to help public bodies, like universities or health boards, carry out more shared procurement and make long term savings whilst improving efficiency.

To deliver the modern and efficient public services that the people of Scotland deserve we need to take full advantage of the opportunities that technology offers and this framework will help do that. I’m excited about working with our partners in public services to take this forward in future

Tags: ICT, Scotland's Digital Future, Twitter

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