How can we create the most local and best possible user experience for people engaging with the Citizens Advice Scotland network?

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As its name suggests, members of Citizens Advice Scotland provide advice to people across Scotland, across a wide range of topics and communities . Much of this help has been traditionally face to face, but the organisation has been developing online services for some years. However the pandemic has accelerated our digital transformation, and we want to build the best services we possibly can whilst ensuring advice is delivered as locally as possible Building on our experience of launching the national Scottish Citizen Advice Helpline (SCAH) service, which went live on 14 April 2020, we want to enable everyone wishing to use our services, irrespective of the way they contact us [phone, chat or website] to benefit a national portal that consistently, effectively and automatically routes them to the right local CAB advisers. This would not only ensure that the chances of an allocation of a local advisor the default and enables more local deployment of advisors,. In the first instance, we want to focus on streamlining the help available for those in debt including advice on benefits and employment. So how can tech help us create the best possible user experience for people engaging with the Citizens Advice Scotland network? Please visit our website for information on CivTech and how to get involved. https://www.civtechalliance.org/ About CivTech CivTech’s mission is to drive daring and innovation in the public sector by collaboratively solving challenges that make people’s lives better – and in doing so create generations of sustainable, high growth businesses. CivTech brings together public sector expertise and private sector innovation to solve real problems, develop new products, and deliver better, faster and easier services for everyone. Central to the approach is co-production with the citizen. Part of the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate, CivTech’s approach is helping transform public sector engagement with tech and innovation, delivering significant benefits to public services, producing genuine uplifts for the Scottish economy - and along the way, making lives better. Across the country there are problems public sector organisations would like to solve and in the current environment the need for smart, efficient and effective products has never been greater. The Scottish Government is aware innovation is a good way to create them and is committed to ensuring a large part of its tech spend goes to smaller, innovative businesses. This is where CivTech comes in. The CivTech Innovation Flow is designed to create products as quickly and effectively as possible, and uses a true Accelerator model at the heart of its Innovation Flow model. For you – whether you’re an individual, team or company – it’s an opportunity to take on a Challenge, solve it, and win contracts with a blue-chip public sector organisation. You’ll build a product, and a business to take it as far as possible. Because here’s the kicker: the Challenges we issue aren’t ‘single organisation’ problems – most exist worldwide. In short: Open Challenges are set. Any organisation, team or individual can respond. Applications are assessed, and shortlisted proposals go into an Exploration Stage where they’re developed further [for which participating applicants are paid]. The best go through to the Accelerator – a period of intensive work to create the solution, and through CivTech’s unique business workshop system, a business capable of taking the product to the world. Please visit our website for information on CivTech and how to get involved https://www.civtechalliance.org/