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.
Our Chief Digital Officer is on the CIO 100 UK List.
We're excited to announce that our Chief Digital Officer, Martyn Wallace has been included on the Top CIO100 UK list for an 8th year in a row. This list celebrates the best CIOs and Technology Leaders in the UK, focusing on their achievements in digital.
Martyn Wallace, Chief Digital Officer "This award reflects the phenomenal work my team in the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government does with the collaborative efforts of Scottish Local Authorities and our partners in the past year. Therefore, I offer my thanks to them all for making this achievement possible".
Cosla Excellence Awards Finalists.
Cosla have announced fifteen finalists in this year's COSLA Excellence Awards.
The Excellence Awards present a key opportunity every year to recognise the passionate, dedicated and talented people who make our councils, and work hard serving our communities every day.
The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony as part of the Cosla Annual Conference and Exhibition at The Fairmont, St Andrews on Thursday 13th November.
Find out who made the finalists and read the full statement from the Cosla President using the link below.
Health and Social Care App: MyCare.scot - National Rollout High- Level Summary.
A new document published by COSLA and The Scottish Government shares information on the plan to roll out the launch of a new personalised digital health and social care service: MyCare.scot.
It sets out the collective mission to ensure that everyone in Scotland has a single, secure point of access to their health and social care information wherever they live, whatever their needs.
M365 Skills Hub - Growing Momentum Across Scotland.
Further to our recent update on the continual increase of individuals accessing the M365 Skills Hub, we’re excited to share that we are now launching our M365 Teams Channel, making it even easier to stay up to date and find out about:
Bite-sized training snippets
Regular updates and golden nuggets
Awareness tips like using the Authenticator app
Dedicated threads for HR, OD, L&D, and technical users
Those of you involved in the initial troubleshooting and onboarding will be contacted directly. If you haven’t already registered, we are asking all communication, digital champions, L&D, HR and OD leads tosign up using the link below to help us shape and scale this initiative, aligning to the wider ambitions of a National Training Platform for the sector.
The latest check-in for the Data Literacy cohort, a collaboration between the Digital Office and The Scottish Digital Academy, highlights real momentum in building a confident, data-driven culture across local government.
Strong Engagement & Achievement
High attendance and completion: Most learners attended multiple sessions, with 78% (Data for Business) and 87% (Data for Business Pro) completing assessments.
Outstanding results: 50% of learners in both streams achieved Distinction, with many others earning Merit or Pass.
Consistent participation: The majority of learners attended two or more classes, and a core group attended every session.
Empowering Learners
Growing confidence: Learners report feeling more empowered to use data in their roles, challenge the status quo, and present information with impact.
Practical application: Many are now leading on data presentations, building dashboards, and sharing insights with colleagues.
Collaboration boost: There’s a visible shift towards sharing data, giving feedback, and supporting team learning.
Building a Data-First Culture
Mindset shift: The programme is breaking down silos and encouraging everyone to see data as a shared organisational asset.
Improved governance: Learners are taking practical steps to improve data stewardship, from better file naming to centralising data storage.
Leadership buy-in: Senior managers are recognising the value of data for decision-making and supporting a collaborative approach.
What Learners Say
“I feel now I can confidently tell a narrative with information that sticks and I am listened to rather than a monotonous delivery.”
“It has given me confidence around the solution side of things. Before I would have ideas, but I feel more confident in putting these forward now.”
“As I am more focused on data, my team are starting to notice. I plan to start each team meeting with 10 minutes on data to share what I have learned.”
Looking Ahead
The Academy’s approach to early and personal intervention is helping keep learners on track.
Success is measured not just by attendance, but by real changes in behaviour, confidence, and collaboration.
The journey continues: with more modules and support, we are well on our way to embedding a truly data-driven culture in local government.
Aberdeen City HSCP and Bon Accord Care Awarded Gold Level Two Digital Telecare Implementation Award and Join the Shared ARC Alongside Aberdeenshire HSCP and Moray HSCP.
Aberdeen City Council along with their partners - Bon Accord Care, Aberdeen City HSCP, Aberdeenshire HSCP and Moray HSCP have successfully implemented the Shared ARC Platform!
This milestone enables over 13,000 telecare users to transition from analogue to digital landlines, significantly improving reliability, responsiveness, and the overall quality of care. The digital upgrade ensures continued life-saving support with enhanced efficiency and resilience across the region.
In recognition of their efforts, Aberdeen City Council, Bon Accord Care, and Aberdeen City HSCP have been awarded the Gold Level Two Implementation Award. This accolade celebrates the successful rollout of a live digital telecare service to 50% of users.
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.
We’re pleased to announce the launch of the M365 Information Governance Hub, now available on the Digital Office Resource Centre.
This new Hub provides practical guidance to help staff use Microsoft 365 in accordance with council policies, data protection legislation, and information governance standards. Developed in collaboration with the Core Subject Matter Experts Group, the resources support everyday use of M365 tools and address key scenarios such as labelling, recording meetings, and remote working.
Available guidance includes:
M365 Acceptable Use Guidance
M365 Recording and Transcription Guidance
M365 Remote Work Geolocation Guidance
M365 Labelling and Classification Guidance
M365 Retention and Deletion Guidance
We would like to thank the Core Subject Matter Experts Group and all Information Governance Leads who reviewed the drafts and helped shape the final versions. This marks the first milestone in the Shared Governance workstream of the LocalGov M365 Foundations Programme. Additional guidance is currently under review and will be added to the Resource Centre in due course.
Funded by the Scottish Government, this new scorm- package functionality is designed to support digital capability by upskilling employees across Scottish local authorities.
Cyber Security Top Tips for Staff Build confidence in your cyber awareness and learn actionable steps to stay safe online. This course covers:
Creating strong passwords
Keeping your devices secure
Defending against phishing
Reporting incidents
Supply Chain Mapping Understand the how's and whys of supply chain mapping to strengthen your organisation’s cyber security from within.
Accessing Your Supply Chain Cyber Security Learn how to assess the cyber security of your supply chain and take practical steps to reduce vulnerabilities.
Hosted in partnership with the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, Highland Council’s Digital Week brought together leaders, practitioners, and innovators to explore the pillars of the Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA) and showcase progress, tools, and opportunities for transformation.
Week Objectives
Elevate the importance of the Digital Maturity Assessment.
Engage leaders, members, and staff in digital progress.
Empower individuals on their digital journey.
Exchange best practices to inspire innovation.
Event Highlights
Monday 22 Sept: Vision & Strategy
Kick-off session introduced Highland Council’s Digital Foundations Project and its alignment with DMA pillars. Speakers included Allan Gunn, Jon Shepherd, Kerry Duff, and Verity Hislop. Mel Ross led a session on Digital Leadership, focusing on human-centred approaches and AI integration.
Thursday 25 Sept: Data & Technology
CHI in Health & Social Care: Ruth Griffith discussed using CHI numbers to improve service delivery.
Data Literacy Academy: Ben Stewart emphasised the importance of strategic data and AI literacy.
Friday 26 Sept: Capacity for Change
Scottish Digital Academy: Covered Agile, DDaT roles, and SDA courses.
Service Design Academy: Katie Murrie & Kim Anderson introduced service design principles and co-creation.
Special thanks to Kerry Duff, Project Manager of the Digital Foundations Project that forms part of the Highland Council's Strategic Improvement & Performance function, for her dedication to the Digital Foundations Project. Recordings of the sessions will be made available on the Digital Office Resource Centre in due course.
Upcoming Events & Opportunities.
Visitor Levy Discussion Group:
Wednesday 22nd October 2025.
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 22nd of October. Sign up to join the next meeting and Viva Engage Community using the form below.
Funded Learning Opportunity: PDA in Technology Enabled Care (Starting Jan 2026).
Applications are now open for 100 fully funded places on the Professional Development Award in Technology Enabled Care at SCQF Level 7, starting in January 2026.
Delivered online in partnership with UHI Perth College, this flexible, self-directed qualification is funded by the Scottish Government and COSLA and led by the Digitally Enabled Workforce Team at NHS Education for Scotland.
The PDA in TEC is ideal for people working in frontline roles across health, social care, social work, and housing, including those working in care at home, care homes, or other community settings in the public, independent and third sector.
Applications close at midnight on Sunday 26 October.
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