Public Sector Digital Transformation 2026

Scotland stands at a pivotal moment in its digital journey. We face a unique opportunity to harness innovation and digital transformation to drive sustainable growth and deliver smarter public services.

The Digital Strategy for Scotland, launched in 2025 as a joint Scottish Government and Local Government strategy, sets out the foundations required to build a nation where digital connects people to opportunities, unlocks the value of data, supports economic growth and delivers improved public services.

Building on these shared digital foundations, the AI Strategy for Scotland, published by Scottish Government in March 2026, sets out actions to harness the opportunities of artificial intelligence and support the development of a globally competitive AI ecosystem.

In this opening session, speakers will explore how these strategies align in practice, combining strong digital and data foundations with responsible, scalable AI, to accelerate AI‑powered digital transformation across Scotland’s public services.

Rapid advances in AI are changing what organisations can achieve with data, automation and insight. From lightweight open‑source models in the 7-13 billion parameter range to powerful models at 70 billion parameters and beyond, AI workloads are becoming both more accessible and more demanding.

In this session, Andy explores what these developments mean in practice, and how organisations can adopt and scale AI without introducing unnecessary risk or complexity. He will explain how Brightsolid Cloud has been purpose‑built to support modern AI workloads securely, predictably and at scale - without the cost uncertainty or jurisdictional concerns often associated with hyperscale platforms.

Attendees will discover how a UK‑hosted, sovereign cloud enables public sector organisations to:

Adopt open‑source AI models safely and transparently

Keep sensitive data fully under UK jurisdiction

Scale AI workloads cost‑effectively, from pilot to production

Build secure, resilient foundations for future AI innovation

This masterclass addresses how Scottish public sector organisations can simultaneously advance Digital Transformation, Cloud and AI adoption whilst also controlling costs.

Built around five conditions for earning trust: capability, ethics, humans, cost, and adaptability, the session argues that AI only delivers value when organisations first address their own foundational gaps.

Matt will explore what each condition looks like in practice: from building intelligent-customer capability and engineering ethical constraints before deployment, to making honest cost decisions grounded in solid data foundations. Real-world use cases will illustrate what doing more with less looks like on the ground, and attendees will leave with a practical framework for justifying Digital Transformation (including AI) investment to leadership and a tool for identifying where their organisation is strongest, and where it needs to focus next.

This masterclass explores how Scottish public sector organisations and local authorities can reduce duplication, accelerate digital delivery and make every pound of public money go further through a shared common component approach.

Built around the case for shared infrastructure, the session examines why sustainable digital transformation to public services depends on building on shared foundations rather than solving the same problems independently, in parallel, across every council, agency and public body.

James Buchan and Mark Grey will draw on the development of ePass, a Scottish Government common component available across all 32 local authorities and serving more than 15,000 businesses to date, to explore what the shared model looks like in practice.

The session will cover how common components connect to Scotland's Digital Strategy and public sector reform agenda, what the wider common components landscape looks like, the learnings and impact of the ePass journey to date and how integration pathways and the adoption roadmap ahead give organisations a practical route to doing more with less.

Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how the common component model works, what adoption looks like from both a delivery and policy perspective, and how shared infrastructure can form the foundation for Scotland's next phase of digital public services.

As AI, data and digital infrastructures reshape public services and policymaking, governments face a growing challenge: how to strengthen democratic legitimacy and governance capacity in a time of accelerating technological change.

This keynote explores how democratic innovation, public participation and collective intelligence can become central to digital transformation –not as an add-on, but as part of the infrastructure of democratic governance itself. It will argue that the societies best positioned for the future may not simply be those with the smartest technologies, but those most capable of combining innovation with democratic capacity.

Digital transformation isn’t just about technology – it’s about people, culture and delivery.

This session shares real-world lessons, highlighting the key do’s and don’ts in order to achieve meaningful transformation.

From leadership and user-centered design to collaboration, procurement, culture change and the emerging role of AI, speakers will share insights, pitfalls to avoid, and proven approaches to deliver smarter, sustainable digital transformation.

Smart working is reshaping the way people collaborate, deliver services and drive better outcomes.

This session will explore how digital tools, automation and AI can support a more agile, connected and efficient public sector.

At the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, our In Vehicle Systems (IVS) project—aligned with the UK‑wide Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP)—is transforming frontline operations by modernising in‑vehicle technology and preparing for transition from Airwave to the Emergency Services Network.

Delivered at national scale across a complex geographic footprint, we are upgrading over 700 appliances while maintaining operational continuity. This case study sets out how we are approaching delivery, and managing the practical, logistical and organisational challenges inherent in delivering large‑scale operational change within a category 1 blue light service.

Scotland is redefining how the public sector tackles complex challenges by harnessing innovation, collaboration, and talent.

This session will explore how challenge-led innovation is driving real digital transformation. Our panel will discuss what’s working today, what challenges remain, and how new approaches are helping to build a smarter, more agile public sector ready to meet citizens’ needs.