Scotland’s Digital Office for local government has set out four key roles for itself in a new action plan for the sector.
It has published the plan to reflect the changing priorities in the sector since it was set up in 2016.
The introduction to the plan sets out four priorities for the organisation: contributing to national policy and strategy development there are digital or data dependencies; providing assurance of national digital programmes; supporting programme management of digital transformation; and helping local authorities build their relevant capabilities.
The plan itself sets out that these are underpinned by collaboration with councils and other partner organsiations, such as the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and the Scottish Government.
Essential to collaborate
Chief digital officer for the Digital Office Martyn Wallace said: “It has become essential for the entire Scottish public sector, not just local government, to collaborate more effectively using data and intelligence to support our society with digital solutions.
“In addition to this, the rapid advancement of technology and the mixed reactions to the rise of artificial intelligence has created a new era which the Digital Office for Scottish local government now operates in.
“The Digital Office Action Plan demonstrates how we will collaborate with our public sector partners not only in Scotland but across the UK.
“Fundamentally we will deliver benefits through digital by focusing on an approach of human by default, digital and data by design. This involves working with Scottish innovation centres, including DataLab, and the digital and IT industry to support ongoing transformation efforts and deliver significant benefits for our Scottish local authorities as we embrace the next chapter of the digital evolution.”
Chief technology officer Colin Birchenall added that the organisation wants to help councils to develop their own capability and skills for digital transformation, facilitating shared learning, delivering sector-wide digital programmes, and enable greater re-use of common solutions.
