Prime public interest

If you blink, you’ll miss it. Technological change is happening at a blistering pace, and much is driven by digital transformation. This is no longer merely a strategic aspiration – rather, it has become the cornerstone of national competitiveness in a global economy defined by speed, data, and disruptive innovation, underpinning the resilience and long-term viability of organisations in every sector.

Leidos is at the heart of this revolution as a science and technology leader.  With more than 47,000 global employees, including some 1,400 based in the UK, it delivers secure, mission-critical services in support of the Scottish and indeed UK public sector.

Adam Clarke is chief executive and senior vice president of Leidos UK and Europe and joined the company 10 months ago with more than 20 years of experience across the aerospace, defence and security sectors. 

He has lived in Scotland for more than 20 years; his wife is from East Lothian, and his children are Scottish and at school in Edinburgh where he lives. “I’ve a great affinity for Scotland,” he explains. “And I was keen to get back into roles which involved the country while working for a company at the forefront of technology and innovation.

“There’s a huge growth market and opportunities in digitisation and in IT mission services – systems and software integrations that make a real difference to public services in the UK and specifically in Scotland.”

Leidos aims to “address the world’s most vexing challenges” which means offering a suite of options where data is coming together which requires a new, digitised solution. Much of its work here aligns with Scotland’s refreshed Digital Strategy, published last month, and renews the ambition to use technology and data to transform how the public sector works. 

This, ministers say, will deliver enhanced services to citizens, emphasising collaboration, interoperability and ethical innovation as pillars of modern public service reform.

Leidos, Clarke says, is already covering these bases, delivering solutions that enable ethical, secure and innovative digital transformation and the company has established itself as the partner of choice for the Scottish Government, underpinned by a proven track record in delivering complex transformation programmes that strengthen the public sector in a cost-efficient way. 

“What you really need is the ability to invest once and use multiple times,” he explains.  “It’s very expensive to have contractors create solutions for just one marketplace – so you need a diverse market outlook where you can apply the building blocks of what you do,” he says.

“For example, what can be utilised in terms of assessing energy data can also be achieved in transportation and in public services and our business model is to look across each of those domains. 

“Our skills have commonality across different marketplaces which is important because you really want to try to have common solutions. While there can be different front ends and different bespoke solutions, you need a standard baseline.”

Leidos is an international industry and technology leader in the delivery of smarter, more efficient digital and mission innovations but Clarke says that for him the joy of joining the company is that it has retained a business model which operates like an SME, with an agile, dynamic, self-contained skill base in the UK and particularly in Scotland.

Leidos’ journey here began with Real-Time Engineering, a Glasgow-based technology company that by 2010 had evolved into Amor Group, Scotland’s largest independent IT services provider.

In 2013, Amor was acquired by Lockheed Martin and integrated into its Information Systems & Global Solutions business area, which merged with Leidos – an innovative technology solutions provider formed when Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) split into two independent companies. 

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Leidos

Today, he says, Leidos – with its UK corporate HQ at Skypark in Glasgow – remains deeply rooted in Scotland, employing hundreds of professionals across the country and continues to deliver high-impact services to the country’s public sector organisations.

Getting up to speed with what Leidos is achieving in the UK has been, he says, a revelation. “I’m very enthused by the extent of the capabilities we have here in Scotland and delighted by the frequency of taking what we have done here in Scotland and exporting it to the UK.”

The country he adds may be a smaller marketplace but is an extremely diverse and dynamic one. “Leidos offers something unique, generated by using the intellectual property of the people here and also building upon our international proficiencies.”

Its contractual focus in Scotland is predominantly as a trusted long-term partner to the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and numerous UK public organisations – and Clarke stresses the need for collaboration in achieving results for these bodies. 

“Serving our customer base, the only way to deliver the best solutions is through collaboration and we have great relationships with universities and industry. This commitment extends beyond delivery, encompassing partnerships with academia to harness the brightest minds and foster alternative thinking, while actively encouraging future talent to build the next generation of innovators.”

These include a partnership with the University of Edinburgh and close links with the University of Strathclyde. “We have similarly productive links with the schooling system through our head office in Glasgow, where we’re bringing in apprentices and graduates and helping to improve the skills base within Scotland.

“Collaboration is at the heart of what we do, as no one company or organisation can achieve everything on its own and working together with academia creates significant outputs that we’re able to implement in solutions for the various public services that we offer.”

Looking at STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills that the company brings in through its early careers schemes or through external recruitment, the focus is on logical decision making and objectivity. Of the 34 graduates and graduate apprenticeships currently in the business in the UK, half are based in Scotland.

Services currently undertaken for the Scottish Government include Cyber and IT service management, complex case management, system and service integration, the maintenance and running of different systems, and providing capabilities that allow government offices and MSPs to do their jobs appropriately. 

“There’s a huge drive to migrate to the cloud – for various reasons – and that’s one of the core areas in which we operate, having helped the Scottish Government build their central cloud platform service,” says Clarke. “Some of it is related to data and cybersecurity and the only way for us to manage the complexity of that data is to hold it in the cloud, which also allows for more detailed analysis and acquiring new pieces of information.” 

The company’s mission-critical services include bespoke software and applications that serve various needs, such as those of the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) and Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), Scotland’s insolvency service, while Leidos also provides advice and gives guidance on how digitisation can be realised on an ongoing basis.  

Our skills have commonality across different marketplaces

Refining public sector procurement is another crucial area. “In a challenging economic environment, ensuring that we get the best value for taxpayers’ hard-earned money in the public sector is absolutely vital,” says Clarke.

“As you look across Scotland, all the varied public services require very specific items and there is absolutely an opportunity for us to do better in terms of how we are going to utilise taxpayers’ money to get better value and whether it’s in the NHS or other organisations, we are aiming to optimise the supply chains.”

This, he adds, means large-scale systems integration, gluing diverse and complex systems together and undertaking demand supply modelling. “It means forecasting how you can improve buying in what you need, be it just in time or through resilience, because there’s a lot of focus now about ensuring that we are extremely resilient in terms of our supply chains. We have seen out client’s enjoy significant benefits from this” he says.

Cybersecurity is another headline concern – and Clarke says that cybersecurity is at the heart of Leidos’ business. “Many organisations have suffered enormous issues in the UK, and these consequences of digitisation are, sadly, here to stay. We’re offering solutions that will help our clients mature their own capabilities to better handle customers’ and taxpayers’ information – real people’s information – securely.”

He emphasises that innovation is at the heart of everything Leidos does. “The intellectual property we’re generating here in Scotland is absolutely being applied to our other work across the UK and throughout our international domain and we’re leading the way here, whether it’s through cloud migration, systems integration, or the application of artificial intelligence (AI).

The role of ethics, he adds, runs parallel with innovation. “There must be guardrails about what we can do, how data is shared, and working in the public sector, we’re fully cognisant of the primary importance of ethics.

“As a responsible employer, Leidos is deeply invested in Scotland’s future. We’re committed to creating jobs, nurturing talent and driving sustainable growth for communities across the nation by delivering outcomes that matter.”

However, he concedes that there is always more to be done. “As we move forward, we need to keep asking ourselves if there are better ways to look at the spend in public services – and where we can best direct the investment.

“There’s a lot of great technology, innovation and an impetus to succeed here. I believe Leidos is playing a central role in that and as an employer, a technology provider and an innovator we’re perfectly positioned to help Scotland on its journey.”

This article is sponsored by Leidos.

www.leidos.com/company/global/uk-europe