Scottish Government pilots Windows 8 tablets to improve services

The Scottish government is looking at how Windows 8 tablets could be used to improve citizen relationships.

Employees of the Scottish government will be issued with Windows 8 tablets to enable them to be more helpful to citizens when on the move.

“Our long-term ambition is to transform the way Scottish government employees and our shared service customers can collaborate, access and use information applications with mobile access, both online and offline, from virtually anywhere in the UK,” said Andy McClintock, chief technology officer at the Scottish government.

The change has been implemented as part of plans to ensure civil servants are more readily available to the public.

McClintock said: “Greater mobility provides staff with the capability to work beyond the traditional boundaries of government buildings and engage with stakeholders and the public.”

Trustmarque delivered a proof of concept for the project in partnership with Microsoft. Civil Service employees will use a Samsung Series 7 Slate, Dell Latitude 10 or Samsung ATIV running Windows 8. The devices are being managed centrally using Microsoft System Centre 2012 Configuration Manager.

The proof of concept involved using Microsoft's User Experience Virtualisation technology to support roaming profiles, which are used to provide users with consistent access to their documents anywhere on the network.

The pilot project included 40 members of staff, made up of government executives and technicians, with the intention of eventually expanding the project throughout the entire organisation.