Will technology reduce the cost of delivering public services? (opens in new tab)

The Scottish government has huge ambitions for digitising public services. In late November 2025, first minister John Swinney stated that: “…the potential of technology to improve services and benefit lives stretches across all areas of the public sector. Building this technical foundation will help us develop new ways to grow the economy, end child poverty, improve public services and tackle the climate emergency.”Indeed, in an earlier speech the first minister seemed to indicate that rapid ...