According to a recent study conducted by ATG Access, 24% of people in the UK would be happy to fund smart city solutions with their tax contributions.
From the 1,000 people questioned, 57% would be happy for tax to be use towards smart traffic lights.
Read more: 24% of the UK willing to fund smart city solutions with tax
Yoti‘s partnership with the Scottish Government has produced its first major results, with the company announcing that Scottish citizens can now use its app to access their online “myaccount” profile with the Improvement Service, an organization mandated with improving local government services in the country.
The “myaccount” online portal allows citizens to perform such activities as paying council taxes, paying for school meals, or buying parking permits. The integration of Yoti’s mobile identity solution means that anyone with a Yoti profile can access their “myaccount” services without a password.
Read more: GB: Scottish e-Gov Service Enables Yoti Authentication
Although there has been investment in smart technology in a number of cities in the past few years, the UK is still lagging behind world-leaders such as Singapore. Gavin Hepburn, director at ATG Access, discusses how the UK can overcome barriers to adoption
In its most basic terms, a smart city is a municipality which incorporates technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), GPS tracking and the Internet of Things (IoT), into its physical infrastructure in order to improve public services, make its citizens safer and improve overall quality of life.
Read more: Smart cities: how can the UK overcome barriers to adoption?
Low pay and a male-dominated sector must be tackled to help the NHS, police and councils bring in vital digital expertise
It has been almost a decade since the government pulled the plug on what would have been the world’s largest civilian computer system. The NHS IT system was meant to create electronic patient records for use across the health service in England, but ended up becoming known as the biggest IT failure ever seen. The project, finally abandoned in 2011, cost taxpayers at least £10bn.
Read more: Could IT skills shortage scupper UK ambitions for digital public services?
If digital government is to succeed, policy staff can no longer reign supreme. They must work as part of multidisciplinary, user-centred teams.
It is difficult to say when exactly a government becomes “digital.” As a public servant, you could try looking at the UN’s e-Government survey, perhaps, or examine the health of your flagship technology projects. If you are a policy-maker, you know it’s working when your job changes. And if your job isn’t changing, the chances are you are getting in the way of the development of digital government.
Read more: GB: For e-government to flourish, policy-making must change