Public dialogue on the use of data by the public sector in Scotland

Preface

The Scottish Government is committed to using data in ethical, transparent and trustworthy ways to deliver better outcomes for the people of Scotland.

The National Digital Strategy sets out a strategic framework for building an ethical digital nation, where data plays a central role in realising Scotland’s ambitions, from addressing climate change to delivering high-quality public services, to achieving sustainable economic growth. These goals align with the Scottish National Performance Framework outcomes; specifically Human Rights, Children and Young People, International and Communities.

The Scottish Government’s vision is of a society where people are empowered to control their personal information and actively participate in the design of products and services that better meet their needs.

Inspiring public trust in data use requires public participation in decision-making. Public bodies will secure and maintain a social licence to operate, by embedding the voices of citizens, and reflecting the diversity of public views, in their data projects.

Mobilising data has driven the Scottish Government’s rapid, cross-sector response to major challenges such as Covid-19 and the Ukraine crisis, and catalysed innovative approaches to improving people’s health and societal wellbeing.

Post-pandemic, the Scottish Government is focused on leveraging ethical data use to address a broader range of challenges. Our aim is to build on effective approaches, and to work with the public and cross-sector partners, to shape ethical guidelines that the Scottish public sector can operationalise and, in so doing, unlock the value of this data, for societal benefit.

Foundational to this work is understanding what the ethical use of data means to Scottish people in a fast-evolving, increasingly complex, post-pandemic world. Together with Research Data Scotland, the Scottish Government convened a public panel to explore the ethics of a range of high-profile data projects.

The purpose of the panel was to inform approaches to data use by the Scottish Government and public sector bodies in Scotland. The public dialogue that underpins the findings presented below was sponsored and co-managed with Sciencewise – a public engagement programme led by the UK Research and Innovation which enables policy makers to develop socially informed policy, with a particular emphasis on science and technology.

The findings presented in this report will inform policies in support of the wider public sector commitment to ethical and transparent use of data about citizens.