The pace of change and innovation has increased dramatically in the area of digital transformation. At Sopra Steria we believe that service design is at the heart of enabling communities, companies and organisations across the world to adapt quickly but in a sustainable manner. Throughout this year, we have risen to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, working in partnership with the Scottish Government’s Digital Transformation Directorate to deliver projects with a variety of public sector bodies and government departments.

People want services that are accessible and simple to use. They want them to be inclusive and designed around the needs of their users, rather than the organisational structures or traditions of the organisations that provide them. The Scottish Government has been at the forefront of supporting the Scottish public sector to deliver digital public services that are well designed, meet the expectations of users whilst being sustainable and capable of being delivered at pace.

We deploy teams who combine service design with consultancy, project management and technology expertise to ensure we deliver practical implementation plans that meet the needs of all our users, both internal and external. We work in partnership with our clients, supporting organisations across Scotland that are responsible for delivering services as diverse as education, tourism, transport, utilities, finance, health and social care. Our aim is to enable them to deliver better end-to-end service journeys, enabling people to access vital public services in a way that is convenient and easy to navigate. We are supporting people to understand the shift towards a service design approach by working together to create the right conditions for change. Our design methods are inclusive and accessible. We encourage, empower and enable citizens as well as service providers to participate in designing the services they need.

Despite being a global company, we have a hyperlocal understanding of our local areas and communities and we have a passion for designing services which will make a difference to people’s lives every day. Our UK design team is based across Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, and shares decades of experience developing services for the third, public and private sectors here in Scotland. We look forward to seeing you at Digital Scotland 2020, which we are sponsoring, and our Director of Citizen and Devolved Government Services, Mags Moore, will be chairing a session on ‘Scotland’s Approach to Service Design and Delivery’. This is just one of many forums where you will see Sopra Steria represented in the coming months. We are proud to be playing our role across many professional communities to develop and grow the service design community of practice across the country and beyond. Wherever you find us, we would love to share our learning and learn from you. So say hello, and get in touch.