Scott Communications Signs the Armed Forces Covenant
In support of Armed Forces Week 2019, Scott Communications joined the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and X-Forces Enterprise in Tunbridge Wells on 21 June to host an insight day for organisations wanting to learn about the benefits of hiring service leavers and reservists.
The event was well attended by local businesses and charities, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Barclays Bank, local councillors and keynote speaker, Tom Tugendhat MP. Tom spoke of his experience as a serving reservist in both Iraq and Afghanistan and how he recognises the invaluable talent former service personnel bring to the workplace.
Debbie and Tony Scott, co-founders and directors of Scott Communications, formalised their support for the Armed Forces by signing their business up to the Armed Forces Covenant, which is a commitment to treat all past and present members of the military fairly.
Scott Communications is keen to demonstrate to other organisations, both large and small, that it is possible to go the extra mile in supporting the military, even when you’re effectively a small business start-up.
Debbie Scott, organiser of the event, and co-founder and director of Scott Communications, said:
‘As a former Royal Naval Reservist, my passion for supporting the Armed Forces is engrained in me. Also, my previous work in the corporate sector, especially while working for Atkins where I led the setting up of the Alumni Group in 2015 for businesses wanting to give something back to Defence, has instilled in me an appreciation for all that ex-forces personnel have to offer in the workplace. Having a strategy to hire veterans and reservists is so obvious if you want to tackle the skills gaps that most employers find themselves facing.’
Tom Tugendhat added:
‘I was delighted to support the event in Tunbridge Wells. I know from personal experience the transition from military life to civilian life can be tricky. Any support we can give our service leavers, in particular when they continue to contribute to society and the economy through business and self-employment, is a good thing.’
The day closed with other local businesses keen to work with the Barclays VETS programme that helps place veterans into civilian work and guides businesses in finding the right people to hire from this untapped talent pool. Businesses were also keen to follow up with the MoD to learn more about how they can sign the Armed Forces Covenant.
Scott Communications and the FSB are already planning the next event with the support of Tom Tugendhat, who is actively campaigning for a dedicated Veterans Minister to sit across Government.
Notes
Over 3,000 businesses have now signed the Armed Forces Covenant, each committing to acknowledge and understand that those who serve, or have served, in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, society and economy they serve with their lives. Find out more about how your organisation can sign the Armed Forces Covenant here.
Scott Communications offers a bespoke service in guiding organisations through the journey of building up internal support for the Armed Forces, taking the first step by signing the Armed Forces Covenant and nominating for an Employer Recognition Service Award. Debbie has worked with companies of all sizes including Hewlett-Packard, Atkins and X-Forces to help them achieve the highest level of recognition for their support for the Defence community.
If your company is interested in showing its support for our forces then please contact Scott Communications to find out more.
ACE Digital Leadership Conference 2019
This year’s ACE Digital Leadership Conference was held at Prince Phillip House in central London on Thursday 20 June. The conference brought together senior technology leaders from across the consulting engineering sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities resulting from digital transformation.
The conference was opened by ACE Chief Executive, Hannah Vickers, followed by a keynote presentation from Mark Enzer of Mott MacDonald and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB). The first panel session focused on client needs, with Sarah Hayes of the National Infrastructure Commission and Miranda Sharp of Ordnance Survey joining Thames Tideway’s Peter Vale for a session on client evolution.
In the second session of the day, Scott Communications‘ co-founder and director Tony Scott took delegates through the outputs of the ACE Digital Transformation Group roundtable debates that were held in the spring. Each of the debates focused on one of the three thematic areas of ACE’s 2019 Future of Consultancy initiative:
- Strategic Planning and Placemaking
- Delivering Integrated Projects
- Data-Led Asset Performance
To dig deeper into the issues raised in the debates, Tony then chaired a panel consisting of Mace’s Dr Marzia Bolpagni, Imperial College’s Professor Jennifer Whyte, Royal HaskoningDHV’s Casey Rutland and Costain’s David Owens. Using the thematic areas covered in the spring debates, the panel discussed areas of opportunity for consultancy businesses to support their clients better.
On the topic of delivering integrated projects, Dr Marzia Bolpagni said:
‘It is essential we embrace a digital approach that supports strategic enablers such as the adoption of collaborative procurement methods, machine readable information requirements and standardisation of processes. Even if our sector is historically slow in digitalisation and automation, new players are entering the market and the speed of digital transformation might radically change. Events such as the ACE Digital Leadership Conference and collaborative roundtables are key to shaping the future of consultancy.’
Tony concluded:
‘Having taken part in all three of the spring debates as an independent consultant, it was a privilege being able to replay their key findings to the conference audience. The AEC industry is going through major digital transformation today. It is fascinating seeing the degree to which each of the companies within it, from SMEs to the very large, is seizing the opportunities this presents. Scott Communications is very happy to be supporting ACE and its aspirations for its members and the wider industry through these exciting times.’
The day continued with further engaging sessions focused on digital leadership, and concluded with a networking reception in the evening.
To learn more about ACE’s Future of Consultancy initiative, visit https://www.acenet.co.uk/campaigns/future-of-consultancy/.
Strategic Alliance with Artificial Intelligence Specialists NeuralRays AI
To augment its digital transformation services, Scott Communications is pleased to announce a strategic alliance with NeuralRays AI. Inspired by the ideals of ethical artificial intelligence (AI), NeuralRays AI was formed in 2018 to create innovative solutions that deliver positive human and business outcomes.
In our increasingly connected world, Scott Communications and NeuralRays AI believe AI can be a genuine technological force for good. That is, if applied positively, AI has the potential to accelerate the digital economy and the transformation of life at large. For this to succeed, AI solutions must be trustworthy, predictable, fair and transparent. These principles lie at the heart of all that both companies do, from how they treat their staff, to the ways in which they engage with clients.
As part of the alliance, Scott Communications is also able to offer its PR capabilities to augment NeuralRays AI’s services, solutions and clients. Under the ‘PR4AI’ banner, Scott Communications’ co-founder and director, Debbie Scott, is promoting PR opportunities to support the offerings of AI start-ups sharing NeuralRays AI’s ethical focus.
Debbie said:
‘I am excited about this alliance, as our two companies have the same aspirations around technology exploitation and corporate social responsibility. I am already supporting a number of NeuralRays AI’s initiatives, and the value in helping innovative technology companies navigate the intricacies of government and policy-making is clear, in addition to assisting them in more traditional areas of PR. It is all about helping tech start-ups achieve their full potential by guiding them in areas in which they themselves might not have the in-house skills or experience.’
With offices in London, UK, and Chennai, India, and working with technology partners globally, NeuralRays AI is well positioned to deliver future-proofed services and solutions across industries, sectors and locations. Scott Communications’ other co-founder and director, Tony Scott, is also the founder and managing director of NeuralRays AI.
Scott Communications Provides Digital Support to ACE’s ‘Future of Consultancy’ Campaign
Scott Communications’ co-founder and director Tony Scott is pleased to have been appointed as an independent consultant and adviser to support the Digital Leadership strand of Association for Consultancy and Engineering’s (ACE) ‘Future of Consultancy’ campaign.
ACE chief executive Hannah Vickers announced the campaign in November 2018, sharing her vision of helping the entire consultancy and engineering sector welcome a new era of design and delivery in the built environment. In a warmly received speech at ACE’s 2018 European CEO Conference, Hannah outlined the disruptive influences of new technology and highlighted the further step-changes that digitally enabled manufacturing, whole-life asset performance, big data and artificial intelligence (AI) would bring in the future.
Tony, a founding member of ACE’s recently formed Digital Transformation Group, is supporting a series of roundtable breakfast debates for consultancy and engineering digital leaders at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall, London.
The first debate was held on 28th February and focused on ‘Strategic Planning and Placemaking’. The second breakfast debate on 15th March will address ‘Delivering Integrated Projects’, with attendees at the final breakfast on 12th April debating the topic of ‘Data-Led Asset Performance’.
Tony will be participating in the three debates and consolidating their collective output to feed into ACE’s Digital Leadership Conference at the Royal Academy of Engineering, Prince Philip House, in London on 20th June.
Tony said:
‘Having chaired the organising panel for ACE’s inaugural European CIO Conference in 2017 and supported the organising and running of the 2018 conference, I am thrilled to have been invited to participate in the planning and build-up for this year’s Digital Leadership Conference, the successor to the CIO Conference. With the disruptive impact of emerging technology already being felt, I encourage digital leaders across the consultancy and engineering sector to put 20th June 2019 in their diaries now.’
Brian Nolk, Commercial Director of Victoria Street Capital, the commercial arm of ACE group, added:
‘We’re happy that Tony has agreed to support the digital strand of our Future of Consultancy campaign this year. His industry knowledge and extensive network of contacts will help us to shape up this campaign and feed into our Digital Leadership Conference on 20th June.’
More information about ACE’s ‘Future of Consultancy’ campaign is available at:
- https://www.acenet.co.uk/futureofconsultancy/
- https://www.acenet.co.uk/news/ace-news/government-backs-ace-future-of-consultancy-campaign/
Scott Communications Joins the HiveMind Network
Both co-founders of Scott Communications are now members of the 1,500+ strong HiveMind Network. Tony Scott joined the network in November 2018, and Debbie Scott was accepted as a member this month.
The HiveMind Network is a modern, innovative, consulting network of leading business, technology and design professionals working together to help their mutual clients build high performance businesses. They do this in a more affordable, effective and realistic way than when working with the traditional advisory services.
Tony said:
‘We’re only a small consulting company, recently formed. But, through the power of this established gig economy network of vetted freelance experts, we can now offer our clients advisory services and operational capabilities that greatly exceed what we can provide on our own. This adds huge value to our complementary PR and digital transformation consulting offerings. I am incredibly impressed by all I’ve seen with HiveMind so far, and excited about taking this enhanced proposition to our clients. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.’
Tony Scott is additionally an Executive Partner in HiveMind’s CxO HiveExec advisory service. This premium service provides personalised support to CIOs, CDOs and CTOs and their direct reports, complemented by inclusive engagements and enquiries with any number of HiveMind delivery experts.
See here for full details of the HiveMind and HiveExec offerings.
Harvey Nash 2019 Technology Survey Launch
On 24 October 2018, Harvey Nash launched the results of its annual Technology Survey at Level39 in Canary Wharf, London. Completed by over 2,000 technology and business leaders, the report is a comprehensive study of the most significant global technology trends and challenges facing businesses in 2019.
Scott Communications co-founder Tony Scott was one of those invited to participate in the on-stage panel, which was chaired by technology podcast founder David Savage. Also appearing on the panel were:
- Peter Briffett, Co-Founder of Wagestream
- Kate Ward, EVP and Head of International at Refinery29
- Katie Mills, Director and Founder of StateZero Labs
In a well-attended evening of discussion and networking, and with the distraction of a stunning sunset over the City of London visible from the Level39 office high up in One Canada Square, the event was a great opportunity for all present to discuss the key themes of the survey results. These included the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on business and society at large, why innovation is failing in many organisations and whether there is a digital leadership crisis impacting the IT industry.
Tony Scott, co-founder of Scott Communications, commented:
‘The breadth and depth of questions asked from the floor, and in the networking session afterwards, showed how relevant the survey findings are to businesses today. But what struck me most was that cultural, organisational and human concerns around technology and digital disruption were of equal, if not greater, interest to many of those present.’
