2023 Highlights Day 6: Competency Framework

Day 6 of our 12 days of Digital Partnership highlights of 2023!

We're excited to showcase the innovative collaboration to develop a Competency Framework.

Ongoing collaborations between the Digital Office, South Ayrshire Council and SPDS have focussed on developing a Competency Framework that aligns to the DDaT Capability Framework, the Scottish Digital Academy learning pathways and our Digital Maturity Assessment. 

As highlighted in the ‘Digital progress in local government report’ by Audit Scotland, “Councils should develop a Competency Framework that sets out the digital skills needed across the workforce.” 

Collectively, we recognise that well defined competencies can help foster a strong corporate culture, build a more aligned workforce and establish key competitive differentiators.  To support local government in delivering this recommendation, we are looking to build upon the first iteration of the Competency Framework, developed by South Ayrshire Council as part of their Digital Skills strategy.  

To further develop this iteration of a Competency Framework, 10 councils and the NHS collaborated to review the first iteration of a Competency Framework to meet the needs of and support the digital public sector workforce with clarity on expectations. We explored and shared various examples and considered possibilities to develop the next iterations.  

James Andrew, OD Coordinator at South Ayrshire Council states:  

‘Our draft ‘on a page’ Competency Framework is initially designed for any manager to ‘pick up and run with’ when discussing digital skills with employees, and we are currently exploring how it will link further within our PDR and recruitment processes. Reflecting themes and levels within the established Essential Digital Skills and Capability Frameworks, it sets the core expectations and broad activities that is more reflective of our working environment, systems, and digital maturity. We understand the framework will need expanded with additional layers to encompass support, training, evidence and outcomes, and we are keen to work with the Digital Office and other councils to achieve this. We hope an enhanced framework can be adopted by any council where they find it helpful.’ 

Verity Hislop, Senior Project Manager, Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, highlights the need to continually revisit frameworks to ensure relevance. Digital Competency Frameworks can provide a structured approach to assessing and developing digital skills and capabilities of both individuals and organisations. Working with our stakeholders and partners on this initiative has been particularly interesting due to the variations in context and focus. I’m looking forward to working with this group to progress with the next iteration as we recognise that regular updates are essential to reflect changes in technology and digital trends. 

If you are interested in getting involved in this initiative, please get in touch at info@digitaloffice.scot.