Renowned Scottish-born scientist and innovator, Alexander Graham Bell, triggered the analogue revolution by inventing the telephone in 1876.

Today more than 140 years on, Bell’s Scottish descendants are carrying forward the next part of the revolution setting the target to make a digital nation by 2020. But in our survey, only 43% of local government employees in Scotland believe the nation will achieve its vision. So how can Scotland ensure it dials in for digital success?

In light of this digital drive, Civica brought together public sector leaders from across Scotland to discuss how the region can build on Bell’s legacy. Our report, ‘Dialling Scotland in for digital success’ summarises the key findings from our senior public sector forum, and together with results from new research from Scottish local authority employees, helps identify the potential bumps and opportunities on the road ahead for Scotland.

There’s a real drive to reform our public services in Scotland. You can see it already in the creation of Police Scotland and the integration of health and social care, and new powers provide us with an amazing opportunity to do things differently."
Colin Cook, Director Digital, Scottish Government

The pace of technological acceleration is speeding up – the tipping point is closer than we think and public sector organisations must be prepared."
Civica

The research, Civica Scotland local government survey, was conducted by Opinion Matters for Civica, in May 2017. The sample included 75 local government workers in Scotland, across all levels. This report also uses research from Civica's citizen survey, completed in August 2017 by Censuswide for Civica and polled 2,044 citizens across the UK.