Fit for 2024

Our vision

Our vision is to transform the region into a vibrant rural community that is an attractive proposition for people to both live and work. We are all acutely aware of the many challenges we face in the future, however, with challenge comes opportunity to rethink the way we provide services - from social care, public transport, education to open spaces etc - we will do this through making greater use of technology.

What it means for you

Fit for 2024 (FF24) will enhance the number of ways you can interact with us. We will adopt a digital first approach to deliver more convenient, effective and higher quality service to our communities.

Across all service lines, the programme will transform the service delivery model and, through equipping our employees with digital tools, increase job fulfilment through working more efficiently and smartly.

Future challenges we face

If we are to attract people to live and work in our area as well as improving the quality of our services to existing residents, then we must act now. The complexity and breadth of the challenges that we face require a transformative response, tinkering at the edges will no longer be sufficient. That is why we are asking you, our customers, staff, elected members and wider community, to play your part.

What is the Fit for 2024 programme?

FF24 is a bold programme that helps us deliver on our vision: Scottish Borders will become the UK’s first smart connected rural region, supporting better outcomes for everyone who lives and works here.

The key principles of the programme are all-embracing and seek to turn challenge into opportunity.

The five pillars of the programme include:

  1. service by service reviews
  2. investing in digital transformation
  3. enhancing community engagement, participation and empowerment
  4. place making and best use of assets
  5. process improvement and productivity

The five pillars are underpinned by four themes that run across all FF24 pillars:

  1. digital skills for our workforce
  2. workforce flexibility
  3. partnership resource optimization
  4. digital transformation

Although each pillar is a discreet programme in its own right (and will have several projects within each), they are all about seizing opportunities and thereby taking advantage of our unique location to build a thriving area that we are all proud to call home.

About our digital transformation

Our digital transformation is a set of programmes, based on our digital strategy, agreed in February 2021. The strategy sets out plans for the next three and a half years and seeks to build upon the solid digital investment and efforts made to date. It is a continuation of our work done to date to become a smart rural region. The digital transformation is one of the key FF24 pillars, which will enable a number of opportunities across other FF24 initiatives.

Conceived as a digital-first initiative, the digital transformation programme aims to reimagine the ways that employees and citizens interact with us, as we all drive towards our bold vision of becoming the UK’s first smart rural region.

As more and more of our citizens are used to leveraging digital tools in their everyday lives, they expect to be able to interact with us in the same way. At the heart of our digital transformation, is the desire to make our jobs easier, more enjoyable and efficient.

Areas of focus

Key areas of focus

 We need you to play #yourpart

The scale and breadth of challenge can be met only if all of us play our part. The #yourpart campaign aims to encourage everyone to help support us by doing anything you can.