McClelland review of ICT infrastructure in the public sector: our response

Transformation and Digital Public Services

Citizens increasingly expect to be able to access government services in the same way as they manage their finances through internet banking or shop online at their own convenience. Digital technology allows greater scope for people to access the services they need at a time and place that suits them.

It offers the opportunity to develop new delivery models that are not only easier and more convenient for people to use, but with continuing pressure on public sector budgets, innovative use of digital technology can improve outcomes while reducing costs and ensuring services remain affordable and sustainable.

The Scottish Government paper " Renewing Scotland's Public Services" published alongside this response, acknowledges the role of digital technology in wider public service reform.

There is a lot of activity in this area and the challenge ahead will be harnessing good practice and ensuring the public sector, citizen and business can benefit from transforming our services and enabling Digital Public Services. This chapter describes some of the developments to date and our plans going forward. We recognise there are a whole range of digital initiatives across the public sector and this therefore only provides a snapshot of activity focussing on those exemplars referenced in the John McClelland's report.

Innovation

Innovation is vital to boosting growth and is a key driver of productivity and competitiveness, particularly in an increasingly interconnected global economy. In order to enable business to turn innovation and ideas into commercial opportunities, we need a dynamic infrastructure for research and innovation that will enable Scotland to compete in those industries set to drive the global economy in the years ahead. Over the Parliamentary term, we will work harder with partners across the innovation and commercialisation landscape to ensure the system in Scotland is genuinely aligned and truly responsive to business needs.

The SG is committed to improving the quality of public services and the productivity of the public sector by reducing waste and duplication. The Government believes that all public bodies, even those that are already working in an efficient way, can do more to deliver further efficiency.

ICT ENABLED SHARED SERVICES

The Scottish Government provides a number of shared services to various public bodies both within the SG core family and across the public sector.

Examples of shared services which are ICT enabled are:

• HR and or Payroll services to 29 public bodies
• Scottish Procurement Management Information Hub for 122 public bodies
• SEAS accounts and payments systems to 30 public
• ICT services ( SCOTS and SCOTS Lite) to 30 plus public bodies

SCOTS IN DETAIL

A Scottish Government initiative that provides ICT systems to the wider public sector in Scotland. SCOTS provides secure, flexible and cost efficient ICT infrastructure and Managed Services to over 9,000 public servants throughout Scotland. We will maximise investment on current shared services platforms and expand the customer base over the course of the next Spending Review period. The Central Scottish Government Public Bodies Shared Services Site went live in April 2011 offering a web-based facility to support better flow of information on shared service opportunities.