By John Kenney, Director of Digital Governance, Cyber Security & Digital Solutions
The Department of Cyber Security and Digital Solutions (CSDS) has published a Digital Code of Practice to guide the responsible and impactful design, adoption, and delivery of digital products and services. It includes practical guidance for public employees and contractors on how to approach and use technology in ways that build trust and improve service delivery to people in Nova Scotia.
Communicating what good service design and delivery look like
The Digital Code of Practice communicates how CSDS aims to work with partners and vendors to build, buy and repurpose digital products and services in ways that are reliable, secure and responsive to people’s needs. If you are building or buying technology, or designing and delivering public services, the Digital Code of Practice is for you!
Practices to enable trust
Our Code has been informed by the work of other jurisdictions and our experiences here in Nova Scotia. The first version of the Digital Code of Practice includes eight practices that will contribute to successful adoption and delivery, and build trust with the people we serve:
- Deliver value to Nova Scotians and those who use public services
- Build and empower diverse teams
- Design with the people who use your service and meet their needs
- Be inclusive and make things accessible
- Design adaptable and connected products, services and systems
- Manage risk proportionately and collaborate to build trust
- Take care of people’s information and data
- Continuously learn, maintain, and improve
It’s not a recipe or formula
The Digital Code of Practice aims to guide and enable wayfinding as you design, build or buy digital products and services. The Code is not a list of prescriptive steps that are to be followed in a particular order. Rather, they are meant to be approached and applied in an integrated way, together, through multidisciplinary delivery. They can be tailored to reflect your delivery context, constraints, and what you are trying to do.
Setting up and supporting digital delivery for success
The Digital Code of Practice was created to guide delivery teams and those who lead and support them. Delivery teams and the ways of working outlined in the Digital Code of Practice can be supported by:
- Establishing accountability and clarifying expectations for digital product and service delivery
- Prioritizing internal and public-facing service improvement and transformation initiatives, and setting them up for success
- Budgeting and procuring in ways that enable digital ways of working
- Mobilizing the internal and external talent, skills, and support needed for responsible and effective service delivery
- Monitoring and assessing the alignment of digital product or service delivery with modern practices and guidelines
- Encouraging continuous learning and professional development, including through collaboration with peers, other teams and organizations, and communities of practice
We’re publishing the first version of the Digital Code of Practice with the intention of monitoring and continuously improving it, so it reflects modern delivery practices and user needs.
We invite you to review and start using the Digital Code of Practice to guide your product and service delivery! Your feedback on how the Digital Code of Practice can be improved is also welcome via the feedback form at the bottom of the Digital Code of Practice webpage.
