Welcome to our newsletter, bringing you all the latest from the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government. In this newsletter, we bring you a detailed update on what has been happening across the Digital Partnership throughout the last month and details of upcoming activities.
If you have any queries regarding any of the content within this newsletter, please get in touch.
The Digital Office for Scottish Local Government held its first bi-annual Digital Partnership Forum of 2024 on June 5th. The event, themed "Supporting Councils to be Digitally and Data Future Proof," brought together over 100 key stakeholders involved in digital transformation. Updates were provided by:
SOLACE
Improvement Service
Society of Personnel & Development Scotland
Scotland Excel
Scottish Digital Academy
NHS Education for Scotland
Highland Council
Perth and Kinross Council
The recording of the event is now available on our Digital Partnership SharePoint Site.
*Please note that you need to be registered and logged in to the Digital Partnership SharePoint site to access the recording.
Digital Champions the next generation - insight request reminder.
As we look to the future, cultivating the next generation of Digital Champions becomes imperative. It requires a concerted effort to nurture talent, creativity, and instil a passion for innovation across the public sector. By investing in education, mentorship programmes, and supportive ecosystems, we can empower aspiring Digital Champions to contribute meaningfully to the constantly evolving digital landscape we are part of.
Let us come together, embrace curiosity, coupled with the fear of the unknown and build resilience through collaborative initiatives to transform public services for the better.
In collaboration with Aaron Slater of Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, we have been exploring the possibilities of cross organisation Digital Champions, aligning with Inclusion Champions.
Before we begin a series of stakeholder discovery workshops around this initiative, we are looking for each council to self-assess the maturity of their existing Digital Champions networks. Please support us by completing the survey linked belowto help us to understand the current Digital Champion Landscape, how we build upon progress to date and explore potential training and accredited learning opportunities with a potential collaborative procurement.
If you would like further information or to provide us with suggestions, please get in touch with Verity Hislop.
Maximising our Microsoft investment - National Community for Microsoft Power Platforms.
Further to the launch our National Community for Microsoft Power Platform on 14 June 2024, it’s not too late to get involved.
In collaboration with Chris Wright, of Perth and Kinross Council and Verity Hislop, this initiative will benefit all 32 Scottish local authorities. By coming together, we will share knowledge, resources, and best practices to drive digital transformation and maximise our Microsoft investment across Scotland.
Join us as we harness the power of Microsoft’s Power Platform to enhance services and improve outcomes for our communities. Let's innovate and collaborate to make a real difference!
To ensure we agree our priorities, and everyone benefits from our collaborations, we ask you to take 5 minutes to complete the Menti below. We would also like to capture your ideas and suggestions; therefore, we have included a free text section for your input. (We request completion by 14th July 2024).
For those of you who sent apologies and were unable to attend, please find the link to the recording below.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Verity Hislop.
National M365 Cross-Organisation Collaboration Programme.
Welcome to the monthly update on the National M365 Cross-Organisation Collaboration Programme! Here's a glimpse of our recent progress and upcoming plans:
Phase 1: Nationwide Rollout of Basic Collaboration Progress: We’re delighted to announce that with Orkney Islands Council and Inverclyde Council going live this month, we now have 24 councils fully operational with Phase 1, with an additional 3 currently in progress. We have also on-boarded Stirling Council over the past month and we’re looking forward to working with their team.
Collaboration Expansion: The team at Public Health Scotland have been onboarded and are progressing through the process of connecting to the councils live with Phase 1.
Skills Hub Rollout:
Thanks to all 25 councils who provided us with their domains over the past month. We are working with NHS Education Scotland to progress through the next steps and will aim to update everyone on progress within the next couple of weeks.
Interested in learning more or have any questions? Please don't hesitate to get in touch with Monika Ivanova.
Scottish Digital Academy: Service Design Courses.
This summer, the Scottish Digital Academy offered a new round of Service Design Champion courses. These courses provide an introduction to service design, focusing on its application in public services.
Local Government was allocated 30 spaces free of charge, which have now been filled by candidates from 11 different Councils. Half of these candidates completed the course in June, with the remaining half scheduled for August.
Feedback from the June attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. Participants particularly appreciated the hands-on approach, which involved working through practical challenges while receiving valuable feedback from the instructors.
If you're interested in signing up for a future Service Design Champion course, please get in touch with Synnøve Frøiland.
Only 550 days left until the end of the digital telephone migration.
Our Digital Telecare Programme is here to support all Scottish Local Authorities, Health and Social Care Partnerships, and Housing Associations in preparing for this transformation.
Whilst BT has extended their migration deadline to 2027, other telecom companies are unchanged and we remain committed to counting down to the 2025 deadline to ensure all Scottish Telecare Service Providers are ready well in advance.
Transitioning to digital services before the 2025 deadline is crucial to avoid any interruptions. Our dedicated Digital Telecare team is armed with the resources and expertise to help you on your journey to digital.
Don't wait! If you need support on your analogue to digital migration, get in touch today.
Following the passing of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill on May 28th, June's activities have focused on developing guidance with the Visitor Levy Expert Group. Stakeholder testing for this guidance is scheduled for June 28th, in preparation for its publication this summer. COSLA, the Digital Office and the Improvement Service will be representing Local Government in this crucial testing phase.
As part of its Councillor Seminar series, COSLA briefed elected representatives on the final format of the legislation and discussed the opportunities for Local Government to tailor the scheme to meet local priorities.
Microsoft’s TechHer for Government is a free initiative designed to inspire curiosity and excitement about technologies such as Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Low Code/No Code App creation and Security.
Sessions are aimed at women who work in the UK public sector, who do not necessarily have a technical background and are keen to gain confidence to learn more about technology.
Delivered 1 hour per week over 5 weeks via a Teams Webinar, these live and engaging sessions aspire to ignite your interest in technology and build your skills to a fundamental level. For those that are interested in going further, extra resources will be available to support additional learning to work towards a Microsoft Fundamentals certification.
Pre-registration is now open for an Autumn schedule.
