Using low-code to build bespoke systems to digitally transform a unique organisation
Scottish Forestry is the Scottish Government agency responsible for forestry policy, support and regulations. Their role is to sustainably manage and expand forests and woodlands in Scotland, giving expert advice to Ministers on forestry policy, support and work with landowners, forestry professionals and communities across Scotland.
In 2019, when forestry was devolved to Scotland, Scottish Forestry was set up as a standalone agency. The organisation had existed for over 100 years, but in terms of technology, they were essentially a new start up. They needed to move fast, making decisions to fulfil business needs and be fully operational.
They trained some of their team on Liberty Create, our low-code platform, as the speed of developing would enable them to get systems configured quickly and also to make bespoke systems to suit their exact needs. Whilst the initial processes they wanted to focus on were internal processes, rather than customer facing applications, digitising these would ensure an improved and faster service for applicants.
“For us, low-code fits a sweet spot – we don’t have a large enough team to develop software from scratch, and we have continuously evolving business needs, so to develop or buy something bespoke at a single point in time costs too much and might not meet our future needs. Liberty Create offers a hybrid approach, allowing us build on top of the system, with all of our security and fundamentals baked in. We refine, maintain and also build out on-going system requirements. We have the support and the expertise from Netcall when we need it, but we’re also growing the level of ability in our team. It works perfectly for us.”
Kyle Usher
Head of Innovation, Scottish Forestry
“In the beginning, the organisation heavily dictated what the systems must do, centred around meeting regulations. Now, we’re shifting ground, as people who are at the forefront are involved in the project right from start, in defining requirements, in consultation during the build and in user acceptance testing. It means we’re able to develop better quality system. People want to be included, to see progression and it helps that we can now get everyone on the same page prior to launches.”
Seye Kalejaiye
Digital Service Manager, Scottish Forestry
Having started with digitising internal systems, Scottish Forestry is looking next towards developing forms to applicants, using Liberty Create. This will reduce the need for paper forms and remove data entry tasks for staff. The first project in their digitisation of the user journey will offer functionality for applicants to request the creation of a Forest Plan, where they’ll be sent a link taking them to a web page with all the instructions to enable them to start filling in their request. Submissions will then be sent to Scottish Forestry case officers to assess. It’s expected that future projects will then adopt a similar approach.
“Our move towards digitisation creates a space for improved communication across the board. It allows a more direct channel of feedback between Scottish Forestry and applicants, as updates to case information can be observed in real-time. Within Scottish Forestry, we can efficiently translate internal user feedback into meaningful improvements over a short timeframe. As a result, our processes have become more agile. The use of Liberty Create eases the burden of maintenance and time-consuming back-end development. Hence, we can focus more of our attention on changes which offer clear, visible benefits to our case processes.”
Mark Adam
System Development Support Officer, Scottish Forestry
Improved
accuracy
Reporting & MI
from digitised records
Vast reduction
in paper forms and records
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