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Growing International Diversity of Fintech SMEs in Scotland

Fintech has accelerated as a global innovation movement during the pandemic and Scotland is making a positive contribution to this force of change in the digital economy

FinTech Scotland has confirmed that the number of international fintech SMEs in the SME community has grown by over 40% over the past twelve months, complementing the growth of local start-up and growth enterprises.

In recent months companies such as YayPay and Pace AP  from the USA,  WeFund from Australia and Pulse Market from Ireland have become part of the growing Fintech Scotland community.

The diverse origination of the international SMEs in Scotland’s Fintech community is highlighted by the visual below.

This growing global influence in the Scotland fintech community was a key theme of this year’s Fintech Festival which concluded last Thursday its four-week programme of sixty plus events, innovation meet-ups and conferences.

The Festival included FinTech Scotland’s collaboration with Scottish Development International and UK Department for International Trade Festival to host events with enterprises in Australian, USA and Asia to highlight inward investment and export opportunities.

The global fintech opportunities was also one of the themes discussed at the Accelerating UK FinTech Conference’ hosted by FinTech Scotland last week, with presentations from Fintech leaders across the UK including Ron Kalifa, Regional bodies and Government Ministers.

FinTech Scotland used the conference to release a “Building a Global Fintech Cluster” prospectus (brochure) to further build on the momentum driving fintech innovation and collaboration.

 

Commenting, the Executive Chair of Fintech Scotland, Stephen Ingledew said

“The ongoing collaboration of inspiring FinTech leaders will enable us grasp the global innovation opportunities and the UK wide conference in Glasgow was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate this with colleagues and friends from all corners of our country”

Commenting on the FinTech Scotland Festival, CEO of FinTech Scotland Nicola Anderson said,

This year’s festival has reinforced the dynamism, breadth, and capability of fintech innovation in Scotland. We were privileged to be joined by so many fintech and industry leaders sharing experiences, knowledge and opportunities. We’re looking to more collaboration and to supporting the digital and green economy through continued fintech innovation.”

 

 

Lessons as the latest IPO window starts to close

In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of news articles about the bumper run of IPOs, observed as economies globally look to plot a post-COVID recovery. Those ongoing and ultra-lax monetary policies buoy this, though that may be coming to an end. Floats are being postponed or prices slashed by prospective issuers, suggesting that it is inevitable that the window is starting to close ”“ for now anyway.

However, is this such a bad thing? Increasingly IPOs have been looking somewhat disorganised. Whilst fervent day one ‘pops’ in the share prices of newly issued stock may be headline-grabbing, ultimately, it suggests that the advisers have miscalled the market. Founders and early-stage investors could have got a far better price had a more considered approach been taken. Indeed, academic thinking from a little over twenty years ago always suggested that involvement in IPOs was a risky proposition. With savings in transaction costs and taxes offset by the fact that the previous investor ought to be selling at the top of the market and the opportunity cost of having capital tied up during the pre-IPO period.

It is also worth bearing in mind that even if IPO deal flow does become somewhat more constrained, the option is not being removed indefinitely. This market has always been cyclical, so that it will return. Given that, what takeaways are there from the frantic levels of activity seen over the last twelve months?

Arguably the most important for many will be ensuring that your cap table reflects the needs of the business at the time of float. What will an IPO mean for key staff and early-stage investors who have likely played an instrumental role in getting you this far? And how can these valuable participants be convinced to stick around for the next phase of the journey?

Secondly, there’s that opportunity to ensure your business is IPO-ready. Regardless of the time horizon here, there’s a raft of best practices that you can deploy to make sure your company is in the right shape to facilitate a listing. After all, you may find that time is of the essence at a future date and such preparedness has longevity ”“ investments now will yield results in the future. That combines to create a situation where you’re getting closer to having liquidity within your privately held business ”“ something that CrowdX is assisting with already, helping bolster the company’s reputation, its brand perception, and the early stages of institutional engagement.

This all means that it should be easier for prospective professional advisers to make more accurate assessments of your company’s value. Those ‘day-one-pops’ in share prices can largely be a simple transfer of wealth from your company to the institutions that can participate at the very outset. Don’t give away wealth unnecessarily.

Looking forward to a month of events

Welcome to September! I’m excited to write this month’s blog post where we highlight the 2021 FinTech Scotland Festival.

September is always a month the FinTech Scotland team look forward! It’s a time to celebrate fintech, learn about developments, meet new people, and reconnect with old friends who are driving forward fintech innovation across Scotland and across the world.

This year we’re especially grateful to be able to welcome back more in person, and face to face events as we continue to emerge from the necessary restrictions over the last 18 months.

The festival kicks off on the 16th of September with the DIGIT FinTech Summit and concludes with the Times Scotland and Canongate Publishing event on actions and initiatives to drive global fintech leadership on the 14th of October.

For the first time in a long time, we’ll get to see people in person! We’ll experience the atmosphere and energy that comes from fintech innovation and specifically through the people that make fintech.

Fintech entrepreneurs and leaders will share their experiences and talk about the innovations shaping financial services and the future digital economy. We’ll hear from Nucleus, Sustainably and LendingCrowd on their thoughts about the opportunity fintech continues to present and about the fintech Cluster in Scotland. Soar, MoneyMatix and Exizent will give views on the opportunities for fintech to contribute to building back better post COVID. Fintechs such as Pour, Striver, Women’s Coin, Amiqus, Modulr and Gigged.ai also plan to share their experiences and ambitions for the future.

We’ll be hearing directly from fintech entrepreneurs on topics such as fast-tracking innovation, the future of crypto, how blockchain is transforming society, avoiding team burnout in fintech and how to scale a fintech! YES and YES!

The diverse mix of events and topics covered during the festival continue to demonstrate the breath of opportunity and significant range of contribution that makes fintech unique, inclusive and collaborative. It’s this support from a wide range of committed participants that allows fintech innovation in Scotland to thrive.

Like every year, our partners are also very much involved and we’re looking forward to attend events from RBS, Pinsent Masons, BT, PwC, Deloitte, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Strathclyde, IBM, Merkle, Checkpoint, SDI and no less than 6 events from the FCA.

We’re particularly excited to welcome colleagues from across the UK and the world as we continue to build national and international collaboration, share knowledge, and learn about fintech developments across regions and geographies.

We’re privileged and inspired to see the leadership, experience and expertise that plan to contribute across all the events, and I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone involved.

I’ll look forward to hearing your experiences and updates across the duration of the festival and I’m very much looking forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks.

All the best

Nicola

The evolution of high-growth tech firms in Scotland

By Lynsey Walker, dispute resolution partner and tech specialist at Addleshaw Goddard

 

Technology and digital innovation have played an important role throughout the pandemic, which rapidly accelerated a global reliance on connected services.

Digital innovation has protected many businesses which, despite traditionally not being online operators, have been able to pivot through a technology-first approach, providing business continuity which previously would have been an expensive challenge.

As the wider economy opened as Scotland was moved to level 0, our continued ability to work from home while also remaining connected with friends, family and social groups underlines how vital technology and digital innovation is to the country’s economic recovery. It is clear that the loosening of restrictions is not going to result in a return to all of our pre-pandemic practices.

Central to this is the understanding that tech underpins all sectors, from education to manufacturing, rather than a standalone stream supplying businesses with IT or other more traditional machines.

In recognition of this, the Scottish Government has made more funding available to help businesses take advantage of digital technologies to improve their productivity, increase their resilience and create new market opportunities. An additional £11.8 million, announced in November 2020, will go towards helping businesses to adopt digital technologies and improve their digital capabilities.

Looking at the fintech sector specifically, Scotland already boasts one of Europe’s most successful offerings and is projected for notable growth in the years ahead. Innovators are looking to the future and are driving a collaborative agenda in a bid to make impactful change across the sector and for consumers alike.

The launch of the Kalifa Review earlier this year marked a significant milestone for the UK fintech sector, as it set out a strategy that will accelerate growth over the next three years – again enabling post-pandemic recovery.

Deservingly, Scotland was earmarked as a standout region thanks to the continued development of its Fintech Scotland Cluster model. With input from Fintech Scotland, the Kalifa Review sets out a five-point plan to leverage innovation through a positive regulatory environment, developing diverse skills, facilitating investment to scale enterprises and accelerating a targeted approach to inward investment. It will be fascinating to see how we gather momentum in enabling this through investment, innovation and job creation.

Just last week, UK Government ministers were given an exclusive glimpse into the evolving Scottish fintech community as part of an event hosted by FinTech Scotland. Secretary of State for Trade, Liz Truss, and Scotland Secretary, Alister Jack, paid a visit to the Bayes Centre to meet some of the companies driving the thriving fintech ecosystem.

Over the last five years, Addleshaw Goddard has developed its AG Elevate programme, designed to accelerate start-ups and guide fast-growing tech firms through the legal challenges they face. We’re proud to have supported more than 30 fintech and technology entrepreneurs’ innovative businesses, helping many go on to operate internationally.

Originally designed for fintech firms, this year Addleshaw Goddard welcomed all high-growth tech businesses to the scheme and has also placed a greater focus on businesses with an emphasis on sustainability.

Given Addleshaw Goddard’s experience and insight into the tech sector, this year we also launched the Aspiring Unicorns campaign to support high-growth tech firms. We are encouraging as many businesses and entrepreneurs as possible to get involved.

Aspiring Unicorns comprises seven critical lessons for high-growth technology firms to consider such as data, disputes, IP and investments, and we will be delivering relevant insights on these themes over the coming months.

We’ve developed our support programmes as we recognise the supportive infrastructure, innovation and opportunities that are all available within Scotland for high-growth tech and fintech firms. While the last year has been challenging collectively, tech and digital innovation’s positive influence throughout has reinforced why we are committed to championing its capabilities.

Collaborative leadership, entrepreneurial mindsets and support from government is required for Scotland to spearhead the fintech sector at a global level, and it’s evident that we have these tools to continue such drive.

For more information about the Aspiring Unicorns programme, visit: https://www.addleshawgoddard.com/en/insights/insights-briefings/2021/general/guide-aspiring-unicorns-supporting-high-growth-tech/

FinTech Scotland looking ahead and looking forward!

With August literally just around the corner we’re inching closer to the FinTech Scotland Festival which starts on the 16th of September with Digit’s FinTech Summit.

This year we’re hoping to see a return to some face-to-face events and are looking forward to catching up in person with so many of you working across Scotland and UK fintech clusters. We’re starting to see more opportunities for those in person meet ups, respecting the opportunity to start seeing people again in a safe way. Personally, I’m finding it invigorating and energy building talking face to face with those inspiring and committed to driving change through fintech innovation.

That energy was more than evident in a FinTech Scotland meeting with Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade earlier in July. Not only was it good to see everyone in a (large) meeting room, but it was also great to hear directly from the leaders in Trace Data, Direct ID, Float, EedenBull, Modulr, FreeAgent on their plans and views on international trade and how Scotland is leading and building world class data driven innovations. Key markets discussed included the US, Asia and Australia. Opportunities are growing and many of the events in the festival will focus on international trade opportunities helping to build local understanding of fintech markets in Australia and other countries. (Link to the FinTech Australia event).

We’ve also been working closely with the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Innovations on a Data Driven Entrepreneurial Programme that is focused on the application of PhD research into industry and in building businesses. All the enterprises are using technology and data and are building innovative solutions across a host of issues, including climate change, economic recovery and financial wellbeing. The team at Space Intelligence is focused on managing environmental risks using technology and space data analytics to monitor carbon reducing initiatives. I also met Iceni Earth this week, another climate fintech innovation, and providing leadership and practical applications that supports agriculture and better land use. I’m constantly reminded how privileged and lucky we are in FinTech Scotland with continuous connections to new innovations supporting future business developments.

Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be doing more on climate and fintech. The FCA recently announced a range of planned innovation programmes for later in 2021 starting with a Tech Sprint in October on the topic of ESG data and helping build market confidence towards ESG credentials and the environmental impact of financial decisions. There is more information here, and it’s another opportunity for Scotland to showcase its strengths in innovation, driving purposeful change and building collaboration to achieve Net Zero ambitions.

The topic of fintech’s role to address climate change was also discussed on one of the FinTech Scotland podcasts in July, it’s a great listen!

How Platform Sourcing can help Fintechs win the War for Talent

Current State 

 

The War for Talent had a ceasefire in early 2020 due to COVID-19 but is now back in full swing. The War for Talent is not new, the term was coined by McKinsey and Company way back in 1997. However, this war has evolved due to the increase in digital initiatives and the rise in remote work smashing down the usual geographical barriers. The most in-demand tech roles for companies across the UK are software developers, web designers and data analysts with AI skills quickly catching up. According to Adzuna in April 2021 there were nearly 10,000 vacancies for software developers, compared to 5,630 at the same time last year. Furthermore, the Gartner 2021 CFO survey found that 74% of CFO’s plan to permanently shift employees to remote work after the Covid-19 crisis ends. Many Fintechs including Revolut have rewrote policies to include fully remote work.

 

The old solution

 

Historically when skills are in demand there are a number of tactics large organisations deploy which include but not limited to:

 

  • Post more (and more and more) jobs on Linked In
  • Create a new Preferred Supplier List (PSL) of agencies
  • Hire contractors from PSL when perm hiring stalls
  • Referrals schemes
  • Recruitment open days 
  • Host tech meet ups (obligatory beer and pizza post)
  • Expensive PR Campaigns to hype up culture and opportunity
  • Increase Salaries

 

Now these are all perfectly good solutions if you have lots of time and money. However, most digital initiatives have an end goal to generate revenue. With a lack of key talent then projects start to delay and so does the revenue. This is when most CEO’s and CFO’s start to get interested. This is usually when the big digital consultancies get brought in.

 

The new solution

There is another way. There is so much talk right now about the “future of work” and there are many debates of what that means. That is for another day, lets focus solely on the platform sourcing element of the future of work. There has been a rise in companies using talent platforms to complete projects using platforms such as Toptal, Freelancer, Innocentive and Upwork. Even NASA use platform sourcing for major software development projects. This has been largely in North America with the UK slow to this model.

A recent Harvard Business School report about building the on-demand workforce states: 

“COVID-19 has only accelerated the move away from traditional, pre-digital-era talent models toward on-demand workforce models.” 

Also, the well-regarded University of Oxford Report on Platform Sourcing stated there will be rapid growth in the next 5 years on how companies use Platform Sourcing including crowdsourcing and outsourcing platforms. The report focused on research around how Fortune 500 firms are adopting online platforms. The report author Greetje Corporaal found the following benefits:

  1. Providing easy access to a scalable source of manpower, skills and expertise 

Platforms provide access to freelancers with highly specialized skills and expertise, making them an attractive option for organizations to quickly and flexibly complement the capabilities of their in-house employees on an on- demand basis. 

  1. Reducing start-up and transaction costs 

Compared to traditional outsourcing vendors and contracting agencies, platforms substantially lower the start-up and transaction costs of a contract. This allows enterprises to quickly hire freelancers to address project needs. 

  1. Eliminating conventional hiring barriers 

Platform technologies eliminate or at least reduce geographical, informational, and administrative barriers in the hiring process. This allows their use for projects of shorter length and scope. It facilitates the hiring of freelancers on a more flexible, on-demand basis, and allows managers to bring in new skills and knowledge to the organization that would otherwise have remained outside. 

 

There are factors to be aware of when using platform sourcing:

 

  • The work needs to be well defined with milestones and outcomes
  • Time zones need to be factored in
  • This does not replace your team but can enhance

 

In conclusion, the next time you are worrying about the impact that losing the war for talent will have on your projects and ultimately revenue then consider a platform approach. There are a number of UK platform companies including Distributed and the Gigged.AI (I am biased as the CEO). Start small and define your outcomes and this could be game-changer.

Candidate Engagement in Fintech Recruitment

I read recently that in the next four years, The Global Fintech Market is expected to grow at a rate of 23.58%. With news emerging that the Scottish Government has appointed an adviser to assist tech, with £7m earmarked for the project, Scottish Fintech has a great opportunity on its hands to grow. 

But this growth will need great talent to sustain it. Talent that will sustain growth and drive innovation – not an easy feat considering the current shortages of candidates across all tech markets. 

This shortage isn’t due to slow in the next few years either. In a recent study, The World Economic Forum pointed out that the global talent shortage in technology, media, and telecommunications alone is due to reach 4.3million workers by 2030. 

What Does This Mean for Fintech Recruitment? 

It means that it’s becoming more difficult to hire top talent and will continue to become harder. We already know that top tech talent hold most of the cards, shortages meaning they have their choice of employers and can command top salaries. 

Businesses that want to continue to innovate and stay at the top of their game need the right people to do so. Which means being able to attract and engage the best candidates. But with many businesses in Scotland at the startup or ramping stage, recruitment often doesn’t come top of their list. 

Getting the right people in place is a combination of being able to access alternative talent pools, and engaging them and your traditional pools. 

How to Improve Candidate Engagement? 

The type of people you’re looking for aren’t usually out of a job. Right now, it’s not just candidates who need to impress employers, employers need to impress candidates too. And that means working on your candidate engagement: 

Working on Your Candidate Value Proposition 

Salary and standard benefits are no longer enough to engage with top talent in the tech space. You need to do more. That means improving your candidate value proposition. What do you offer over and above the competition? 

The easiest way to improve your candidate value proposition is to improve your employee value proposition. Use internal surveys to ask your current team what they like about working for you and what you could be doing better. The happier people are at work, the more likely they are to spread good word of mouth among friends and peers. 

Changes could be more flexible hours, the ability to permanently work from home, better choice of benefits, company shares (particularly for start-ups), or better work culture. Many people are also looking for more social responsibility from their employers, both with charitable efforts or sustainability. 

When you have identified what areas are important to your current team, ensure these are clear on your careers site, on your social media, and in any candidate collateral, you issue. 

Put More Effort into Diversity and Inclusion 

Currently, just 24% of people working in fintech in Scotland are women. Considering women makeup 51.5% of the population, that figure looks low. Just 1.4% of fintech workers are black and 6.2% Asian. (Solutions Driven 2021)

All of these are untapped, diverse markets that businesses should be engaging with to diversify their talent pools and find candidates their competitors can’t. But do you improve candidate engagement in these areas? 

  • Talk to the diverse people in your current teams – what could you be doing better to make them feel included? Is there anything you’re doing wrong? 
  • Set up diversity groups – is there scope for a women’s panel in the business? Could you set up a diversity workforce? 
  • Embed diversity into your KPIs – set targets for diversity and make them part of your recruitment team’s KPIs. 
  • Improve diversity branding – make diverse figures visible on your website, your social media, and your candidate content. 
  • Improve your language – masculine language using words like “ninja” and “rockstar” turn women off applying for roles. Look at making your language more inclusive. 

 

Spend More Time Engaging Candidates 

Candidates like to feel sold to. They want to feel as though joining your business will benefit them and you, and that they’d be a valuable member of the team. 

If “candidate engagement” consists of sending a couple of messages or emails, that’s not going to cut it. Much like a sales process, great talent needs multiple touchpoints from your company to attract the candidate. After all, a 2019 survey by Indeed showed that 13% of job seekers have ghosted a business because there wasn’t enough engagement with the hiring manager or recruiter. 

If your own team doesn’t have the time to carry out a longer process like this, you need to ensure your recruitment partner does. They must be well-versed in the complexities of tech talent and spend the time and energy showing them why your business is the right one for them. 

At Solutions Driven, our candidate engagement works alongside our 6F Methodology, where we ensure someone is right for a role and a company by looking at their compatibility in Fit, Freedom, Family, Fulfilment, Fortune and Future. If someone matches with your business in these areas, they’re more likely to feel an affinity with the business, feel fulfilled, and become long-term employees. 

Great candidate engagement has a multitude of benefits for your business. Not only are you more likely to find and attract the talent you need right now, you also build a pipeline of connected talent for the future. If people have a great experience, even if they don’t get the role, they’re more likely to re-apply or be open to an approach further down the line. Word of mouth is vital in smaller sectors and by ensuring your employees, prospects, and potential prospects all have a positive view of your business, you’re setting yourself up for future hiring success, as well as current. 

To find out more about how to connect with alternative talent pools, engage candidates, and power your growth, get in touch with Nicki Paterson at Solutions Driven today on npaterson@solutionsdriven.com. 

Fintech – supporting business growth and recovery

As we emerge from lockdown determined to experience the things we missed the most, we can also be confident that some of the developments we saw during the pandemic will remain.

I was reminded of this recently when I heard some of Scotland’s business community share their hopes, aims and ambitions for a post Covid recovery, while being candid about consumer expectations and the efficiencies digital interactions allow. Recovery and development in the ever-evolving digital economy was firmly part of the discussion as well as the role that fintech can play in enabling both.

Fintech is a key component in a developing digital economy that demands services and products to meet consumers changing habits, and help businesses deliver efficient and cost-effective operations. It is the thread that financially connects businesses with customers and suppliers and vice versa.

What’s exciting is the range of FinTech businesses in Scotland who are all working in this environment and here already, working with commercial and business customers.

They enable business owners to make truly informed decisions, using technology to analyse business and financial data to provide an accurate and up to date (often up to the minute) picture of their business. Float helps businesses make informed decisions about their cash. It’s an online cash management and forecasting tool that helps business leaders manage their business and make decisions with confidence.

Other fintech are providing a range of new digital tools to help businesses when it comes to managing payments, revenue, invoices, suppliers, and creditors. Know-It enables businesses to automate their credit control processes helping to manage credit risk, reduce debtor days improve cashflow and the businesses understanding of its customers.  Optimum Finance another fintech uses technology and data to unlock cash tied up in unpaid invoices supporting business with flexible invoice financing options.  Modulr works to simplify business payments including staff payments, merchant services, supplier payment workflows or payments reconciliation, helping to improve operational efficiencies.

FinTech’s in Scotland are also creating an accessible and transparent alternative to bank lending helping the non-bank lending sector to grow.  LendingCrowd has been working in this capacity since 2014. Authorised by the UK financial regulators it supports ambitious SME’s to grow their business by providing a range of funding and lending options including working capital loans, growth finance and the recent Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

I’m continually reminded of the dedication and profound purpose of fintech founders in Scotland. It’s even more apparent in the fintech’s focused on the business and commercial sectors. These fintech teams continue to inspire us at FinTech Scotland with their focus and determination to use fintech capabilities to help the business sector recover post COVID.

Protecting your fintech against cyber-crime

Large or small, no business is immune to the threat of cybercrime.  With ever-increasing reliance on technology, the consequences of a cyber-attack can range from temporary disruption of trading to complete financial failure. 

Cybercrime continues to evolve in terms of frequency, cost and complexity and the shift to homeworking brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have seen cybercriminals further increase activity resulting in some disturbing statistics:

  • In the first 6 months of 2020, there was a staggering 715% increase in ransomware attacks compared to the same period in 20191
  • During the pandemic, there has been a reported 600% increase in malicious emails2
  • A business is now 15 times more likely to have a cyber incident compared to a fire or theft3

Whilst more companies are starting to purchase Cyber Insurance, the take-up of cyber cover in the UK remains low. According to Hiscox’s 2020 Cyber Readiness Report, 58% of cyber-security professionals surveyed said their organisations purchased a cyber insurance policy””either as standalone or as an add-on to an existing policy””compared to 41% in 2019. 

Some common misconceptions around the need for Cyber Insurance include:

  • Cybercriminals only target large companies 

Whilst cyber-attacks against high profile businesses such as British Airways and Travelex hit global headlines, small businesses are unfortunately not immune to cybercrime. 

Small businesses are often considered low hanging fruits by cyber criminals due to a lack of resources to invest in IT security and staff training. In 2019 46% of micro and small businesses experienced at least one cyberattack or breach4

  • A traditional insurance programme affords adequate protection for the consequences of a cyber incident.  

Unfortunately, in most cases, this is not the case. Cyber Insurance has evolved specifically to provide protection against emerging risks not catered for by a traditional insurance policy.

  •  IT security will provide adequate protection against cyber incident.

Whilst investment in IT security will inevitably make a company less vulnerable to cybercrime, increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals are capable of overcoming even the most robust of security systems

In addition, IT security cannot provide protection against the weakest link in any company’s security systems”“ human error. The UK Information Commissioner’s Office reported that the vast majority (90%) of UK cyber data breaches in 2019 were caused by human error5

The scope of cover provided under a cyber insurance policy may include (but is not limited to):

  • Costs to recover and/or recreate lost data and restore computer systems following a security breach
  • loss of revenue/profit increased cost of working and loss of future customers due to reputational damage following a cyber event
  • Legal liability as a result of a breach of personal data /confidential information
  • Inadvertent breach of intellectual property rights via cybermedia 
  • Financial loss as a result of social engineering attacks such as phishing scams

Importantly, however, one of the most valuable and often overlooked benefits of a Cyber policy is the critical incident support services provided in the event of a cyber incident to help a policyholder navigate both the immediate aftermath and the longer-term consequences of a cyber attack.

Critical incident support services include:

  • 24/7 access to IT forensics, data breach/legal experts and public relations advisers, to provide support in the event of an actual (or suspected) cyber incident
  • Support in complying with data protection legislation and notification obligations following a data breach
  • Access to specialist ransom and extortion advisers

 

For more information please contact garry.hill@pib-insurance.com

To the sprinters, the spoils!

The sheer complexity of data protection compliance can make it seem hard to get anywhere fast, but it is possible to get a lot done in a short timeframe, explains Wendy Spires, Consultant at data privacy tech company Trace.

 

As anyone experienced in this fiendishly complex area of compliance will tell you, data protection is an endurance sport which calls for organisations to stay on top of continually changing rules – and risks – that affect virtually every element of their operations. But while it certainly is a marathon, we’re increasingly seeing our client cover impressive amounts of ground via our “sprint” offering.

Organisations often split into two camps on their data protection today: those who view their GDPR programme as a “one and done” effort which can safely be consigned to the mists of 2018 and those more correctly see compliance as a continual process, but who are frequently daunted by about taking those first next steps.

At Trace, we pride ourselves on being both technically and commercially aware, so that our clients can leverage best practice in data compliance as a competitive advantage. But that also extends to seeing how clients can most fruitfully work with us. For start-ups and scale-ups, dedicating huge amounts of time and resources to data compliance isn’t always option, yet they need quantifiable results, fast. Enter our sprint offering.

Like many of our clients, smartKYC is at the cutting edge of technology as a provider of intelligence monitoring solutions which utilise AI. Also like others, it works in a hotly contested field. Maintaining the highest quality compliance is non-negotiable, but so too are staying ahead of competitive pressures and making data protection really work for the business.

 

Full steam ahead

By delivering a highly focused, yet flexible sprint programme, Trace was able to showcase the full benefits of our model and bench strength. And it was full steam ahead right from the start.

Our initial data protection audit was enriched by a deep-dive discovery session with management to confirm and lift up new areas to tackle to form a roadmap for the next year. This laid out, we then set about key tasks for the near term.

First among these was to get smartKYC up and running with the Trace privacy management platform, so that Records of Processing Activity and other key documentation were built ”“ and ready to be built further upon. We then drew on our internal auditing and accreditation expertise to tighten smartKYC’s infosec policies and procedures, while also advising on best practices in data retention, human resources, data transfers and more. We were even able to squeeze in some highly valuable work on data ethics and future developments on the technological side.

In short, we were able to get smartKYC’s data compliance programme in pretty good shape in a matter of just a few days ”“ and completely bust the myth that compliance has to be a gargantuan effort, and if you can’t do that then it’s best alone.

With the right focus and a team which understands your business quickly, we are proof that you can get a lot of mileage out of just a few days of support. The prize is staying on the pace on the pace of compliance without a huge commitment in time or costs. We say: to the sprinters, the spoils!