Scotland’s Improvement Service (IS) has awarded a series of new contracts to technology partners to further develop its myaccount authentication mechanism and its platform for digital public services.
The support organisation for local government said the four new deals will help to maintain current services while developing new technologies and innovations to help meet emerging and future needs, and that the companies have been chosen for different capabilities.
It has appointed IT, consulting and business solutions company TCS as technology partner for IS core applications and services.
The firm will act as the managing agent of the cloud hosting provider and any other third party software licence providers connected with delivering the IT applications and services. It will also coordinate innovation activity involving other partners.
Brightsolid, the Scottish cloud solutions company, has been awarded a contract to migrate services operated by the IS onto the next generation of the cloud. They have worked together since 2013, with Brightsolid providing a dedicated IT infrastructure and hosting service for the organisation.
Yoti, a UK based provider of a digital identity platform, is to undertake a pathfinder initiative looking at the potential of its free smartphone app to enable Scottish residents prove their age and entitlement, online and in person. The app also gives the user the right of consent before their information is shared.
Wallet.Services of Edinburgh has been chosen to test opportunities and applications for blockchain technology in public services under the IS’s management. The company has developed the SICCAR blockchain platform to support collaboration between organisations in using blockchain.
The new contracts come into operation this month.
Exploiting technologies
Sarah Gadsden, IS’s interim chief executive, said: “As we continue to evolve our multiple award winning myaccount service and our broader digital offer, we are committed to providing a reliable and secure service and exploiting new technologies and innovating to meet our partners’ requirements.”
The services are funded as part of a three-year memorandum of understanding between the Scottish Government and IS. It includes a commitment to increase the use of myaccount – which had 500,000 sign-ups in June – among public sector organisations, and to work on Scotland’s Online Identity Assurance Programme for access to digital public services.
IS has developed a portfolio of services to support digital transformation in Scotland’s public sector. They include myaccount for secure authentication, the National Entitlement Card, Data Hub, Parents Portal, bisaccount, the OneScotland Gazetteer, Spatial Hub and tellmescotland.
mage: Berdea through Wikimedia, CC SA 3.0
