16-point plan also calls for 'rural first' broadband development
The Scottish government's new digital strategy will boost the number of technology jobs in the country, ensure broadband is available to all premises and introduce a new 'digital schools' programme - or so it promises.
It also promises to monitor the development and implications of new and emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Read more: GB: Scottish government promises jobs galore with new digital strategy
Toplevel strategy director Jane Roberts says digitisation is not a summit to be reached, a goal or achievement in itself; it’s a process that is dynamic and can be constantly revised and improved to fulfil its potential
Digitisation is so last year; now it’s all about transformation. The renaming of the Government Digital Strategy as the Government Transformation Strategy, leaked in early December and expected to be published on Thursday, is more than just a rebrand, however. It aims to show that digitisation is a constant dynamic ongoing process and that “2020 does not represent an end date” for these transformations. The cynics may regard this as simply an example of some serious back-pedalling but this also indicates a more realistic appraisal of what it means to convert to digital working.
The UK Government Office for Science has published a report entitled “Artificial intelligence: opportunities and implications for the future of decision making”.
The report focuses on several significant areas: What benefits will AI bring for society and government? What are the effects of AI on the labour market? How do we manage ethical and legal challenges from the use of AI?
Read more: UK Government on the future of Artificial Intelligence
'Making Tax Digital' is a government programme to make tax declarations easier for people and businesses - will it work?
About 12 years ago I visited Sweden to speak at a conference of public sector IT leaders. On the walk through Gothenburg from my hotel to the conference centre, I remember being amazed by the parking meters that encouraged payment by mobile phone.
GovWifi will allow users to login to Wi-Fi in government buildings automatically
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is introducing a Wi-Fi service that will be available across all of government.
The new service, dubbed GovWifi, should be available early next year, and will enable government employees, contractors and registered guests to connect automatically when entering any government building. The service, which is currently in beta, consists of a cloud-based authentication service and public key infrastructure (PKI) which will effectively unify the Wi-Fi services deployed in individual government buildings.
Read more: GB: New pan-government Wi-Fi service to be rolled out in 2017 by GDS