1、25/05/2022INDEPENDEN T P U B L I C AT I O N BY#0805R AC O N T EU R.NE TGuiding CIOs and IT executives to accelerate digital business7 10 November 2022|Barcelona,S SECTOR TECHNOLOGYCAN NEW TECH CLEAN UP THE MET POLICE?UNPACKING THE ONLINE SAFETY BILL1005WHAT THE UK CAN LEARN FROM E-ESTONIA14R A C O N

2、 T E U R.N E TP U B L I C S EC T O R T EC H N O L O G Y0302/public-sector-tech-2022ow are you going to deliver digital services in the pub-lic sector when you cant pick up my bins?”That was the ques-tion faced in early 2017 by Martyn Wallace,the freshly minted chief digital officer for the Digital O

3、ffice for Scottish Local Government.Initially a project set up for three years to help Scottish councils digi-tally transform,the project is in its seventh year and shows no sign of slowing down.“Its never-ending,”Wallace admits.“Always one more mountain to climb.”But back to the bins.“Do you think

4、thats what local government is?We just pick up your bins?”he answered.Wallace outlines the real scope:5.5 million customers,the education of 700,000 children daily,dealing with social exclusion,healthcare deliv-ery,telecare,births,deaths and marriages and bins.He admits that,in the eyes of the publi

5、c,it is sometimes a thankless task.“Were an easy target for the press,”he says.Not just the press,it seems.The MP Jacob Rees-Mogg famously toured civil service departments,leaving a while you were out note on hybrid workers desks.Given that one of the posi-tives of the pandemic has been a shift to h

6、ybrid working,this seems a retrograde step.“Weve had more interaction with the Highlands and Islands and the Borders because I can use Teams to talk to anybody across Scotland,”Wallace says.“Why would staff come into Edinburgh when theyre based in Stonehaven or Glasgow?”Wallace concedes that hybrid