What will future public services look like?

Citizens won’t duplicate applications to public sector bodies to claim entitlements. They’ll have smart entitlements, recognised and used by all service providers.

The current state

Different parts of the public sector find it difficult to collaborate through data sharing. This results in citizen’s having to repeatedly prove things about themselves that the public sector already knows. Claiming entitlements is inefficient and error prone leading to fraud, data duplication, inefficiencies and frustration. Organisational systems are not connected, and citizens are regularly expected to fetch and carry paperwork between different agencies.

This is true of common transactions for mainstream society, such as applying for a parking permit or proving power of attorney over someone who has lost capacity. It is a particular problem for people with multiple entitlements such as those with a disability, care experience and for single parents.

The future state

Citizens will be provided with smart entitlements that can be reused with many different service providers. These will exist on a shared ledger that can be accessed by both verifying bodies and service providers. People will be able to present a QR code to an awarding body, such as a council, to claim a bus pass. Their entitlement will have been verified and digitally signed by a trusted source, such as the Social Security Scotland, validating that the person has a disability. The shared ledger ensures the council has an audit trail justifying the provision of the bus pass.

People will have full control over their smart entitlements and be able to share them with service providers as they see fit. For example, if a care experienced single parent is considering entering further education, they will prove their status to a single funding body. Their claim is verified by that body and, with the applicant’s permission, shared with colleges which can then provide the potential student with a comprehensive list of the support services available to them.

This opens-up the prospect of entitlement services being ‘pushed’ by those organisations with relevant offers, rather than people having to navigate a complex world of service provision when their status changes. It also makes it possible to coordinate service provision, and the withdrawal of that provision, smartly in real-time, as peoples’ status changes. For example: someone moving from being unemployed to be a fulltime student.

How do we get there?

Achieving this solution requires digital trust frameworks to be established between a network of verifying bodies and service providers. This is a means of technically regulating processes to ensure that all the parties involved have done things correctly, compliantly and in a mutually agreed manner. It requires the creation of agreed cross-organisational processes and the assurance that these processes cannot be subverted.

Who's started on this journey?

Wallet.Services’ SICCAR distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform is the key to unlocking the many benefits of a truly digital society. SICCAR, Old Scots for Sure and Trusted, governs and regulates how different organisations’ digital trust frameworks compliantly handle citizen data. It has been tested and approved within the Scottish public sector and is ready to be deployed.

Paul Dymock, Head of Innovation, Student Awards Agency Scotland, said:

Siccar could be a real game changer for sharing vital evidence of circumstances and eligibility criteria to unlock access to public services and vital support, in a discreet, secure and citizen controlled way. It has the potential to introduce huge efficiencies, by connecting services and citizens.

Sarah Gadsden, Chief Executive of The Scottish Government’s Improvement Service, said:

Distributed ledgers enable valuable information to be shared, vouched for and attested to. These include proofs of disability, educational qualifications, or holding a licence or permit and entitlement to vote. We see significant potential benefits from innovating using emerging technologies such as DLT.