An IT services and business solutions organisation has been helping to accelerate the digital transformation for Scotland’s Improvement Service (IS).
Tata Consultancy Services’ is also helping to digitise National Entitlement Cards, dog control notices, and funding for childcare centres in Scotland.
Since the pandemic, national and local governments across Scotland have been accelerating digitisation initiatives, including to reduce physical touchpoints.
Tata Consultancy has been helping the IS using its DigiGOV framework to make digital services faster to configure, easier to use and more accessible.
It included the National Entitlement Card (NEC), Scotland's national multi-application smart card.
It worked with the IS to design and develop GETYOURNEC to ease the burden on local councils during the pandemic.
The online portal lets people apply for an NEC and manage their account from anywhere with an internet connection.
Having first piloted the initiative with West Lothian Council, 24 of the 32 local councils across Scotland have now adopted the portal with the remaining 8 set to follow.
The NEC is now used by more than 2.2 million citizens to access a wide range of local authority services, national and local entitlements, including travel concessions for adults above 60, young people and disabled citizens.
It is also used for discounts within retail and leisure outlets.
Tata also worked with the IS to optimise the online application process for businesses in Scotland to access vital financial support when adjusting to the impacts of the pandemic.
Two rounds of funding, temporary restrictions and transitional support, helped keep nurseries and day-care businesses open for children of essential workers during the pandemic.
The project was rolled out in under four weeks across every local authority in the country, with 1,600 businesses receiving financial support through the new platform.
It is also supporting the IS as it works with the Scottish Government to find ways to improve the operational effectiveness of dog control legislation, given the rising number of dog attacks on people and the variable number of dog control notices issued by local authorities across Scotland.
Martin Brown, head of digital public services at the Improvement Service, said: “The IS exists to provide leadership to Local Government and the wider system on improvement and transformation and, in turn, to make communities and peoples’ lives better across Scotland.”
Gopalan Rajagopalan, head of TCS Scotland, commented: “DigiGOV has enabled us to develop innovative proofs-of-concept and deliver integrated online services in very short timeframes that directly benefit the Scottish people. Our work with the IS shows how digital transformation isn’t just something that affects the business world but is actually about how we all live and work together in the community.”
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