Digital Perth and Kinross 2023-2027

We recognise that to achieve our digital ambitions, we need standards and structures in place to give us a practical framework for driving consistency, providing sound governance and ensuring the Council is best placed for achieving positive digital change.

Our digital standards

Our Digital Standards are general 'rules of engagement'. They cut across all our transformation and change activities, sit at the core of our digital planning and are critical success factors for delivering fit for the future, customer-focused digital, information and technology. When consistently applied, they contribute to a lean, joined up digital environment, that is operated by skilled, digitally savvy staff and continuously evolving to meet the changing needs of customers. 

'One Council'

The people who rely on us view the Council as a single service provider. Prioritising digital investment in shared platforms, including common solutions adopted across the public sector. 

We:

• take a 'One Council' approach to platforms, systems, data and intelligence: standardising, rationalising and joining our systems up at key point of change; 
• recognise that investment in digital enables strategic business change and improvement, the benefits and efficiencies from which are realised within our business functions; 
• innovate, automate, streamline and share: this frees our people to do what they do best - work compassionately with the people who need our services;
• streamline business processes to increase efficiency, accuracy of information, reportability and auditability; 
• understand that our digital and IT are shared resources: investment needs to be planned holistically on a whole-organisation basis to maximise improvements in outcomes and value added;
• build digital into our change planning at a sufficiently early stage to allow security, integration, data and cost avoidance to be assessed before resources are committed;
• think about our platforms and solutions as shared resources for delivering improved outcomes and experiences for customers, rather than tools we use to deliver services;
• design new customer-centric ways of working: using the tools we have to work more smartly rather than using new tools to continue old ways of working.

Digital employee experience

Using creative digital ways of working to help attract and retain staff with the skills needed to deliver Digital Perth and Kinross. 

We:

• recognise that our people are the most important part of any technology-enabled change and support them to develop the digital and data skills they need to embrace change with confidence;
• we grow, embed and exemplify an 'always learning' mindset around digital and data literacy; 
• ensure our employee systems are joined up wherever possible to provide a golden record for staff/a single view of the employee to drive efficiency; match skills to emerging demand/opportunities; target development and support; and remove duplication and overlap;
• give staff the tools to innovate, automate, streamline and share.

Digital leadership

Growing our digital culture and building change around emerging digital opportunities. We are all digital leaders.

We:

• are ambitious about the difference digital can make to the lives of people of Perth and Kinross;
• invest in digital leadership for our senior leaders to improve awareness and understanding of digital transformation;
• appreciate the value technology adds for both the organisation and the communities we serve and think how new and emerging technologies can be used to make things better; 
• recognise we cannot rely on our old ways of doing things and drive One Council ways for more successful change and improvement;
• continually look outwards to learn new digital and data skills; 
• have the appetite, capacity and skills to manage people through disruption and change; 
• understand that new technologies are fundamentally changing the skills we need and take responsibility for continuously developing the knowledge, insight, and behaviours we need for confident participation in a transforming digital organisation.

Improving customer choice and experience

Meeting and exceeding the expectations of our people, communities, visitors and employees: our digital services are optimised for the best customer experience.

Our services:

• are designed with and for the customers who use them; we engage with people and communities to co-design/coproduce the services they use;
• exploit opportunities for multidisciplinary/cross-boundary sharing, for more seamless and efficient outcomes; 
• use automation and IoT, where practical, for increased efficiency and to free up our people to focus on added value 'human' services;
• are streamlined to drive efficiency, and remove duplication and overlap;
• are accessible; always available; and straightforward to use;
• enable us to better target our finite resources to those most in need;
• have a standard look and feel to build user confidence and trust, and promote self-service;
• maximise safe and appropriate use of customers' data on a 'tell us once' basis.

Information safety first

Investing to stay ahead of cyber-security threats and minimise risk of disruption to Council business.

We:

• take a risk-based approach that prioritises security over improvement; 
• ensure security is a key consideration in the acquisition of any new digital technologies, applications or hosted solutions; 
• manage access; users and devices appropriately to ensure the right people have access to the right information at the right time;
• remove legacy and de-supported applications/equipment to reduce risk;
• support national cyber security goals by promoting/adopting best practice and professional standards.

Using data wisely

Becoming a data driven organisation with advanced intelligence capabilities. 

We ensure our data is:

• safe, secure, accurate for its purpose; updated appropriately; and accessible to staff to perform their functions;
• used knowledgeably to inform decision making; target services; and monitor and report on performance;
• stored, managed and joined up securely across the Council;
• joined up, where appropriate and safe, across the public sector and with partners;
• if non-sensitive, open, published and easy to find, for improved transparency and to stimulate local innovation.

Moving to the cloud

Moving to the cloud at points of change. 

We:

• choose cloud first before on premise wherever appropriate; 
• do due diligence around cost, information security, accessibility, and availability before committing to cloud solutions;
• ensure robust business continuity planning is in place for our cloud solutions.

Building our infrastructure from strong digital foundations

Getting the IT foundations right to keep us connected, safe and productive: a stable infrastructure, well managed to minimise risk and impact of downtime, provides our launch pad for delivering our strategic digital aims.

Our digital infrastructure:

• is robust, resilient and secure from cyber attack;
• gives learners and staff equitable access to modern equipment appropriate to their role and workstyle;
• is underpinned by tested business continuity and professional user/device support;
• is planned effectively to manage the beneficial and disruptive business change impacts of new technologies;
• has trusted asset management approaches in place for core technologies, with underperforming and legacy assets removed at points of change;
• is designed with flexibility in mind to support safe and secure changes to future ways of working/operating models. 

Aligning with national digital strategies and initiatives

We:

• are committed to adopting common public sector platforms, implemented under the Scottish Government's Infrastructure Investment Programme, at points of change;
• design our digital systems to integrate with national solutions/common platforms and the emerging national digital identity programme.

Governance

The corporate Digital Board, chaired by the Chief Digital Officer, provides governance, monitoring and review to ensure our digital, information and technology effort and resources are aligned for delivering the aims and objectives of Digital Perth and Kinross. Scrutiny and performance monitoring is provided to the Finance and Resources Committee as part of our Performance Management framework. A Digital Champion from within the Elected Member's cohort has a key role for ensuring Digital Perth and Kinross continues to deliver for the communities we serve. 

A number of digital initiatives, such as Data and Analytics; Mobile Working and Online Services; Social Care platform implementation and delivery of the Customer Services Strategy, already have established governance routes and planning approval/monitoring routines in place. Beyond these live programmes, new digital initiatives that launch during the life of this Strategy will be agreed via the Digital Board. 

Pragmatic meaningful bridges are being built between the Strategy and transformation and change initiatives, to ensure Digital Perth and Kinross continues to positively influence wider tactical decisions and deliver maximum sustained positive impact.

Whole organisational ownership of this Strategy is the starting point for shifting people's aims and understanding; replacing outdated habits with new ones; and making changes positive and sustainable.