In a series of Lightning Talks, delegates at the 2025 SPDS Annual Conference heard updates from three SPDS Portfolio Groups.

First up, Dr Fi Williams, Team Manager – Workforce Development at Fife Council, who joined Portfolio Group Lead, Sharon Dick, to introduce the new Digital and Data Capability Framework.

Dr Fi Williams, Fife Council

With all sectors prioritising the development of digital skills, this framework was originally developed to enhance these skills across Scotland’s public sector and collaboratively created by a group including the NHS, COSLA and Digital Health & Care Scotland. It is designed to be inclusive and applicable to all employees.

The 2025 version is a foundational tool to guide individual and organisational digital development and foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, explained Williams.

The framework has six capability areas and three levels of capability (basic, confidence and advanced). Its tiered structure allows individuals and teams to identify their current level and plan their development accordingly. The six capability areas are:

1. Using technology
2. Identity, safety and wellbeing
3. Communication
4. Handling data
5. Learning and development
6. Innovation and service improvement

Williams explained that there are three ways of approaching the framework: people can self-evaluate as individuals; managers can use it as part of a supported development discussion; and teams can use it to look at skills gaps, areas of expertise, and to leverage peer-to-peer support and learning.

A self-assessment form included in the toolkit could be embedded into the appraisal process and integrated into other HR processes, something Williams said Fife Council will be exploring. “We’re looking at talking points so that it becomes part of an annual review of where your skills are, where your personal development is, where you want to go and whether you want to become a digital leader or a digital champion,” she said.

Organisations will be able to “lift and shift” the framework and toolkit into their own contexts and embed it in processes, adapting and rebranding it as desired, and setting a baseline for digital skills.

Find out more about the framework and how to apply it here.

Sharon Dick, Lead of the SPDS Digital Portfolio, from East Renfrewshire Council and Dr Fi Williams, Fife Council

Blog by Katie Jacobs, an award-winning freelance journalist, writer and editor, who specialises in writing about the world of work. She was previously Editor of HR Magazine and Senior Stakeholder Lead at the CIPD.