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.
UKTech50 2025: The shortlist of the UK's influential Tech Leaders.
We're delighted to announce that our Chief Technology Officer, Colin Birchenall has been recognised as one of the Top 50 most influential people in UK Technology by Computer Weekly.
Colin Birchenall, Chief Technology Officer "I am genuinely honoured to be recognised as one of the top 50 technology leaders in the UK by Computer Weekly. This recognition is a testament to the commitment of the outstanding Digital Office team, underscores the fantastic support and collaboration that the Digital Office has with so many talented colleagues across Scottish Local Government, as well as the incredible dedication of my brilliant colleagues at Glasgow City Council."
Voting is open now until 5pm on 30 June to decide the overall winner, who will be announced at an event in London on 15 July. We wish Colin the very best of luck!
We're excited to announce that we now have our licences and looking forward to continuing to build momentum around the Engage Process platform and this collective process mapping initiative with the community. Here’s a quick update on where we are and what’s coming next:
Platform Setup Progress:
We’ve now established two foundational projects within Engage Process:
One dedicated to the Digital Office
Another for importing processes from local government
We’ll refine folder structures, tables, and authorisations in the next phase.
Upcoming Milestones:
We are interested to review existing Publisher pages from councils to co-develop a common standard. If you would like to share, what you have, we’d love to hear from you.
A follow-up meeting is scheduled to:
Review and refine the concept pages
Walk through how to update Publisher pages
Discuss next steps in implementation and schedule future sessions
Next community call to action to approve the publisher pages, governance and priority focus.
Our Setup will outline the full implementation journey, including:
Admin Centre configuration (users, groups, tables, templates, security)
Key considerations for managing multiple projects and avoiding data pollution
Guidelines for modelling and administration
If you have any questions or would like to contribute to the setup or co-design of the publisher pages, please reach out to Verity Hislop.
Our LocalGov M365 Foundations Programme has officially started!
Our LocalGovM365 Foundations Programme has officially started. The new Programme Board met on 13 June and agreed a clear aim for the rest of the year: a practical playbook of guidance, templates and checklists to help every council use, govern and adopt Microsoft 365 with confidence.
Work is already under way in our first workstream, the Shared Governance portfolio. The Information Governance Core Group held its own kick-off meeting on 25 June and mapped out thirteen key documents, from acceptable-use guidance to data-labelling and retention policies, all scheduled for draft by mid-September.
As each document is ready, we will share it for comment and run a monthly drop-in to talk through feedback. If you would like to be on the reviewers’ list please contact Euan Miller.
There's still time to join our Spring Aggregated Microsoft Procurement Opportunity!
The Digital Office, Scotland Excel and Crown Commercial Services (CCS) have once again partnered to offer councils a streamlined opportunity to renew their Microsoft Enterprise Agreements through aggregated procurements.
Councils have the opportunity to submit their Microsoft licence requirements by 4th July 2025, with the contract anticipated to be awarded by 9th October 2025. This contract will cover enrolments from 31 December 2025 and 1 April 2026. It's important to note that participating in the procurement process imposes no obligation to commit to the successful bidder.
Participating in one of the CCS aggregated procurements is likely to provide you with a saving between 2% to 3.5% on Microsoft reseller (LSP) margins compared to market pricing.
Interested in participating in the Aggregated Procurement? Complete the Requirements Template available on the Resource Centre and send it to info@digitaloffice.scot.
Celebrating Success: Post Module 1 Check- in - Data for Business & Data for Business Pro
We’re thrilled to share the early successes from Module 1 of our “Data for Business” and “Data for Business Pro” programmes, delivered in partnership with the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, Digital Academy and Data Literacy Academy.
Engagement Highlights:
Data for Business: 78% total learner engagement, with 49% engaging asynchronously and 47% attending live sessions.
Data for Business Pro: An impressive 93% total engagement, with 60% async and 73% live participation.
Assessment Success:
100% of learners that have completed the assessment to date have passed. Details below:
Data for Business:
56% Pass, 18% Merit, 6% Distinction
22% of assessments still outstanding
Data for Business Pro:
70% Pass, 13% Merit, 4% Distinction
13% of assessments outstanding
What’s Next?
We’re reviewing the reserve list and refining our approach based on feedback. A Teams community is also being explored to enhance communication and peer support.
Data Pathway now Live on Digital Telecare Playbook.
The move to digital has opened up a vast network of opportunities through data driven technologies and services that can completely transform the way we deliver telecare, enhancing the benefit to the client through assistive technologies and predictive analytics.
The Data Pathway aims to pull together the resources and examples of best practice to be shared on a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach through the Digital Telecare Playbook.
To find out more about how this aligns to the Health and Social Care Data Strategy, head to our website below:
Less than 200 days until the end of the digital telephone migration!
Since 2019, the Digital Office has collaborated with Scottish Telecare Service Providers (TSPs) to prepare for the transition from analogue to digital from December 2025. Our goal since inception has been to support TSPs to implement changes by sharing information and building communities to create stable, resilient, and future-proofed telecare services across Scotland.
As of May 2025, 78% of alarm connections were fully digital or digitally capable. Due to efforts led by the Digital Office Digital Telecare Programme over the past six years, Scotland has made huge progress towards the analogue to digital migration. With the adoption of the Shared ARC Platform, a national initiative led by the Digital Office, many more TSPs are expected to accelerate their transition to digital telecare.
Assurance of National Digital Programmes: Updates from the Digital Assurance Board.
Supported by the Digital Office, the Local Government Digital Assurance Board (DAB) provides collective technical oversight of the design of local government digital services delivered nationally. The Digital Office collaborates with Council ICT, Digital Leaders, and Security Officers to provide independent advice and assurance for implementing National Digital Programmes across the 32 Councils. Key updates from the DAB include:
Post Cyber Incident Attestation.
Our Chief Information Security Officer has developed a post-cyber incident attestation, which has been endorsed by the Digital Assurance Board as a good approach.
An attestation is a signed off statement from a qualified Cyber Incident Response company confirming that actions to secure the network are complete and to their professional knowledge the network doesn't present a risk to any partner organisations. Following feedback from the SLAISG community, additional questions are being incorporated. The final draft will be shared with Digital Leaders for comment and approval.
To support smaller suppliers, a lightweight version has also been created. While many local authority suppliers have professional ICT and cyber support, some sole traders that form an important part of a council's supply chain may not. This version will serve as both an attestation and a practical guide to recovery and sustainable cyber resilience.
Although the Cyber Incident Attestation has been through the Digital Assurance Board, we welcome any feedback in advance of it being taken to Digital Leaders. If you’d like to review and comment on the current version, please contact David Ritchie
Review of Scottish Fire & Rescue's Home Fire Safety Visit System.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is launching a new system that will enable partner organisations to request Home Fire Safety Visits.
Our Chief Information Security Officer and the Digital Assurance Board are actively engaged with Scottish Fire and Rescue to review the security of this project, which aims to strengthen partnership working between the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and other agencies, including local government.
This engagement has included a review of the system’s security statements and penetration test results, as well as a discussion with the Project Manager at the most recent board meeting. The overall findings were positive.
While we are still awaiting some final documentation ahead of the full launch, this work highlights how the Digital Assurance Board can deliver a “Once for Scotland” approach to technical and cyber assurance, providing collective confidence across all councils rather than each council having to assess the solution separately.
Explore this month's new additions to the
Resource Centre!
Take a moment to explore the brand new resources we have added to the Resource Centre this month! Not signed up yet? Register now to unlock full access and stay up to date with the latest resources.
Please note: you must be logged in to the Resource Centre for the below links to work and take you directly to the resources.
Case Study: Integrating Service Design Principles into Service Reviews.
James Andrew, Transformation Co-ordinator (Workforce) shares a high-level overview of how service design principles are being embedded into service reviews at South Ayrshire Council.
In response to leadership’s request for a more design-led approach, the team has developed a Service (Re) Design Framework. With several services recently commencing the Discover element, the framework is set to expand further over the coming year.
Watch the video on our Resource Centre to find out more about how this approach is shaping service transformation.
This 15-part video campaign features insights from David Murdoch (Argyll & Bute Council), Simon Roberts (Improvement Service), Ewan Walker (Perth & Kinross Council), William Cunningham (North Lanarkshire Council), and Sepideh Stewart (Falkirk Council). Together, they explore how building confidence in using data can empower local authorities to design more responsive, citizen-focused services.
Scottish Government's Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework provides a high-level guide for change, to ensure the sustainability, efficiency, quality, and accessibility of health and social care services in Scotland.
We’re especially proud to see the Shared ARC Platform highlighted as a key example of how we’re helping local authorities support people to live safely and independently in their own homes.
Following the introduction of the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act 2024, local authorities across Scotland are starting to develop local visitor levy schemes.
The Digital Office and COSLA have established an online digital community to provide a place for local authority officers to discuss best practice, challenges, and key issues raised as schemes are being developed. Alongside regular meetings, this includes an online platform for Digital Office, COSLA, and local authority officers to share information outside of meetings.
These meetings take place on a monthly basis via Teams and are open to officers from all local authorities. The next meeting of the Group will take place on Wednesday 2nd July. Sign up to join the next meeting and Viva Engage Community using the form below.
The power of CHI to shape the future of Health and Social Care: 17th July 2025.
Join experts from COSLA, the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, and Public Health Scotland as they explore the transformative potential of the Community Health Index (CHI) Number in local government services. With the CHI in Local Government project now entering its Discovery Phase, this session will highlight how CHI can:
Deliver better outcomes for people accessing services
Reduce duplication and streamline processes
Minimise the need for individuals to repeat their information
Increase capacity in a stretched system
Ensure frontline staff have the right information at the right time
Cosla Annual Conference and Exhibition: 13th & 14th November.
The COSLA Annual Conference and Exhibition is back for 2025. The theme of this year's conference is: The Future of Localism.
This year’s event will be held at the Fairmont, St. Andrews on 13th and 14th November 2025, where delegates have the opportunity to network in-person, hear from inspiring leaders and experts, and debate political hot topics.
This year’s Conference will be examining the theme of The Future of Localism. As COSLA celebrates its 50th anniversary year, we’ll be looking ahead to what the coming 50 years may hold for Local Government and localism.
Don't miss the opportunity to discuss The Future of Localism and hear from a range of contributors. Read the flyer to find out more and book your place.