Scotland's Digital Future - Delivery of Public Services

Section Two: Our vision and what success will look like

When we succeed the people of Scotland will:

find it easy to access digital services and be confident in doing so because

• services are well designed and useable
• there is a choice of channels to access them
• assistance is available to those who need it

experience services which continually improve because providers act on the feedback and performance analysis that digital technologies allow where needs are complex, receive a response that is coordinated and personalised through effective and appropriate use of information and the supporting technology

be confident that services are resilient and that personal information will be kept secure.

Case Study: Channel neutral housing services

Glasgow Housing Association tenants with cable or satellite television can now access a new digital channel, through the interactive button, to access a range of housing services. For example: request a repair; find out about moving home; and report anti-social behaviour. Tenants with smartphones can also use the channel, which will soon allow rent payments to be made online.

More at: http://bit.ly/OXveC8

To achieve this the public sector will:

adopt an approach of "digital first" in service design; that means that organisations will deliver online everything that can be delivered online

work collaboratively to simplify and join-up services wherever possible, making full use of the opportunities that technology provides to support collaborative working, and changing systems and business processes to enable this

through common standards and interoperability collaborate locally, nationally and internationally

have a workforce that is motivated and skilled in using digital technologies and gains recognition for doing so

collaborate in planning its use and procurement of ICT, with re-use as a first principle to avoid unnecessary duplication and so reduce purchase and running costs

have a public sector network which supports resilient high-volume and high-speed communication

And so our vision for Scotland is a country in which:

digital technology provides a foundation for innovative, integrated public services that cross organisational boundaries and deliver to those in most need, and for services for business that promote growth

digital technology captures patterns of service use and feedback, so that users of public service are more directly involved in service design and improvement

this use of digital technologies provides a firm basis for a shared commitment to, and responsibility for, public services.