Digital Nation is an industry consultation run by the Scottish Government and Scotland IS. How can we develop the national digital and data infrastructure to meet the country needs? Here we share a copy of Good-Loop's response.

Our vision: Open collaboration is the way forward

Imagine a world where people are in control. Where national and local government can adapt at high speed to the needs of the people -- and with the help and involvement of those people. The digital revolution can make this possible.

Scotland has a vibrant IT sector. From this base, we can develop a country where digital technology empowers citizens and organisations. Where people and companies can work together to tackle problems, producing solutions faster and better than ever before.

But we must guard against closed approaches, where technology locks one solution in, and locks too many people out.

A true Digital Nation must be built in an open and collaborative way.

This is true in general, but it is especially true for the digital world, where change is fast-paced. The only way to keep up is to be open, stay flexible, and embrace collaboration.

Technology is only one part of the solution! To achieve positive change, it is at least as important to evolve organisational attitudes. Organisations should embrace agile working, and the iterated small risks needed for a productive and open ecosystem.

And of course: Work should focus on helping all of society! Community networks, community hubs such as libraries, and lifelong education should be part of digital planning.

Below we set out concrete technical recommendations and advice -- aimed towards the open empowered society we wish to live in.

The Consultation Questions

The questions as asked by the government consultation, and our responses.

What are the key components of a new digital and data infrastructure and why should we prioritise them?

API Nation
Each service and database should have an API, allowing them to be connected together in varied ways. So instead of trying to build giant digital solutions that cover too much and often fail -- we build lots of Lego bricks, then combine them into bigger things. This makes it flexible and future-proof. It also encourages innovation -- any developer or tech-company can experiment in building new services with the APIs.

A focus on people first, profits second. Technology should improve lives. Policy should be judged based on what it will deliver for individuals and communities.

Always have a backup plan. For any service that relies on technology - have a plan for if there's an outage, or a delay in development.

Whilst considering the above, how do we protect the national digital and data assets of Scotland

Security, Privacy, and Ethics should be considered early in every project. Make these part of government procurement. But don't let Security be used as a barrier to entry for innovative start-ups.

For non-personal data -- the nation will gain more from an open approach. E.g. make data-sets and digital assets (e.g. digitised maps and 3D models of iconic locations) freely available from digital libraries.

What are the technical solutions to build these components? (i.e. how)

This question should be treated with care. Any prescription here could be prescriptive. The digital world is varied and fast changing. The worst answer would be to push one-size-fits-all solutions. Be that standards, processes, or technology choices. Instead, let organisations experiment -- then promote and extend the most successful experiments.

That said, APIs that use json-over-https as their protocol, and roughly follow a RESTful design pattern are a good and increasingly common approach. Every modern developer is familiar with that pattern.

Use APIs to glue data and services together in flexible ways.

Split out the data. Giant databases are a larger cyber-security risk. They also discourage innovation.

Avoid proprietary lock-in. Make sure every project has a plan for "How could we maintain and develop this ourselves?" Common solutions to that are:

• Encourage the use of open-source building blocks for e.g. databases.
• For government contracts - prefer open-source code when possible. But be aware that many good companies won't be able to do that - so don't insist.
• If not open-source, ask for a licence that allows for source-code use and modification.
• If proprietary code is needed, then make sure it is packaged as a replaceable module. E.g. you might use a proprietary AI service, be it from Google or a Scottish SME, via an API. You want the ability to replace the proprietary server for that API with another supplier.

How could we deliver more essential public services online - be that healthcare, education, or the way we carry out financial transactions?

Education: Allow and encourage technical people to do part-time work in schools. Schools need talented digital workers to teach and inspire the next generation. But they will struggle to recruit them! Fortunately, there are plenty of people who would like to help teach, although they would not switch careers. Encourage 1-day-a-week expert teachers.

Social interaction is part of what school is about. Aim for physical classrooms, accessing online lessons. Avoid the cheap option of at-home schooling, which penalises the poor, risks creating more class-based social bubbles, and robs all children of proper peer group time.

Innovation does not have to perfect -- it just has to be an improvement on the current state of affairs. E.g. if a person with mental health needs receives an 18-month waiting list, then a new innovation need only outperform that, and need not outperform the best service we can offer.

If a service goes digital - how do we maintain coverage and avoid leaving people behind? And how to counteract exclusion?

• Libraries can act as hubs of both devices and human support for digitally-challenged citizens.
• We should also recognise that not offering a digital service marginalises some people.

How could Government work more closely with the private sector to speed delivery, innovation, maximise benefits, and maximise investments to the Scottish economy?

Let local parts of a government organisation work with small local companies on pilot projects. E.g. allow independent projects at the hospital or local police force level, as well as at the national level.

Manage risk like the software industry does -- by accepting it, and using an agile approach. For tackling large projects -- iterate with quick low-cost projects. Make failure fast and cheap, so you can learn and retry. That de-risks the larger projects much more reliably than trying to plan out risk upfront.

Build in-house skills - by recruiting talent into small squads, and giving them the space to work well. Many developers are civic minded -- but few good ones want to work for the government because of the bureaucracy.

Look at how successful digital enterprises work -- they often acquire companies as a way to grow skills.

If procurement requires 3 examples of prior projects -- You won't get innovation.

A more open and collaborative approach from state organisations, like Scottish Government and the NHS, would be welcome. The Government wants innovation, but its own IT processes are closed off, and often behind the times. Openness will encourage more productive public-private collaboration, and better solutions.

Government should expand the funding which enables innovation, such as SMART: Scotland and other innovation funding.

Government should make its data available in an easy-to-use format as much as possible.

Every government department should have a data and digital strategy, on which it has consulted with the public.

What Happens Next

This is our vision for how to build an open Digital Nation. It is not a blueprint, but a process.

Responses have been collected from across the Scottish IT industry. A multi-disciplinary team formed from Scottish Government and ScotlandIS will review the results, identify common themes, and make the results available.

Digital Nation will report back soon.