Improvement Service

At present, 31 public sector organisations across Scotland use the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF) and facilitators work tirelessly behind the scenes with the sole aim of increasing the level of service being delivered to the public and improving outcomes.

For each and every one of those facilitators, this takes a lot of commitment and hard work. In my role with the IS, I've gained a huge respect for the work being done through PSIF, so it was great to see real recognition being given to some worthy recipients at the recent Scottish Awards for Business Excellence, hosted by Quality Scotland.

...The success and importance of the Facilitators Community for Local Government

The Communities of Practice (CoP) has over 1,300 UK communities and upward of 57,000 UK members, it is the largest collaborative platform for local government and so can be a daunting place for newcomers. If you begin your CoP journey as a community facilitator, however, this feeling of uncertainty is amplified as you have the added pressure of having to master the many features of the CoP; the wikis, the forums, the libraries in order to provide a valuable service to your members and to make sure that your community thrives.

There are usually a few emails jostling for space in my inbox on a Monday morning but one immediately caught my attention today – notification of the inaugural ScotGovCamp event to be held in Edinburgh on July 31.

The idea was first floated by Lesley Thomson from the Scottish Government on the CoP platform way back in January and after a favourable response from a host of members, it has now all come to fruition with a date, time and plenty of delegates already signed up.

It’s free to attend and will be held on a Saturday at the height of summer (if we get one) at the stunning venue of the Edinburgh Informatics Forum. It promises to have themes “relevant to anyone working in/with government in Scotland in the digital engagement space”.