The Scottish Government has signalled its intention to produce a fresh national digital strategy four years since the publication of ‘A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world’.
In a new blogpost published today, Becca Fairless, head of digital strategy and policy, revealed that the government’s digital vision needs to reflect emerging technologies, service demand and public sector budget pressures.
There will be a continued focus on working with local government, however the plan will be clearer about which agencies are responsible for delivery and implementation.
Fairless writes: “A lot of ink has been spilled on defining ‘strategy’, and even more about what makes a strategy a good one. It’s a bit of a rabbit hole.
“One thing that’s uncontroversial; a strategy is more than a plan. We need a simple framing of a long-term objective or vision and a clear articulation of the overall approach. Only then can we start to build out the detailed plans and tactics needed to deliver digital outcomes for Scotland.”
She adds: “Strategies are also sensitive to the context in which they’re written. A strategy written four years ago is designed to deliver outcomes into a set of likely possible futures as seen from 2021. But four years later, the likely set of possible futures has changed. So too must our strategy.
“Our strategy needs to be updated to respond to its new context; to reflect emerging tech trends and be shaped to tackle the challenges we’re currently facing across the public sector with increased demand on services, higher user expectations of digital and increased pressure on public spending.”
In a section talking about ‘lessons learned’ from the 2021 strategy, the government will also look to make improvements in several areas, including:
- be clearer about the difference between the ambition and vision, and the detailed implementation plans.
- focus on a smaller number of core deliverables in the medium term and set out specifically what outcomes we expect these to drive in terms of improvements for the people of Scotland.
- publish our success measures up front, so it is clear when we have been successful or not.
- be clearer in our partnership working with local government about who is responsible for delivering what. This means acknowledging where work is genuinely being taken forward as a joint project, and where it is separate but parallel working towards the same overall goal.
Without naming a specific date for the new strategy’s publication, Fairless confirmed that the process will be a ‘transparent’ one, with regular updates from central and local government teams.