Business people: Deacon spreads university’s word

Published on 01/10/2012 00:00

Former Scottish health minister Susan Deacon is taking on a new role at her old university, helping to build links between academia, politicians and industry.

In the part-time post of assistant principal for corporate engagement, she will also help to build up commercialisation activities.

She said: “Effective collaboration and the sharing of knowledge and insight are key to tackling the challenges we face in today’s world.”

An honorary professor at Edinburgh since 2010, Deacon has worked with the university for a number of years on projects including the development of the Academy of Government and the Edinburgh Centre on Carbon Innovation. She has also worked with Edinburgh Research and Innovation, the university’s research and commercialisation office.

Hi-tech ‘tec after business crime

Business crime analyst Sean Davidson has been hired to carry out Scotland’s first strategic assessment of the problem for the Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC).

Davidson, who has worked in the private sector for G4S and Reliance Secure Task Management, will seek to establish the true cost of crime to the business community and the effect this has on the Scottish economy.

He said: “This is a challenging but very rewarding role. Cybercrime alone is estimated to cost Scottish businesses over £5 billion, which gives you an idea of the magnitude of threats all businesses, regardless of size or location, are faced against.

“The SBCC has made significant steps in trying to tackle issues businesses face and this is another fantastic opportunity for it to work with its members, partners and investors and try to really establish the areas we might be leaving ourselves open to criminals.”

Campbell’s man for Organic Digital

Marketing agency Organic Digital is hoping its latest recruit will help it soar to the top of any internet charts.

The fast-expanding Glasgow-based company has signed Gordon Campbell, an expert in search engine optimisation – the art of making a web page appear in the upper echelons of internet search results.

He will focus on streamlining and developing Organic Digital’s marketing strategy and will lead the company’s strengthened digital marketing team.

Organic Digital managing director Graeme Kerr said: “Gordon is very much a key capture in the digital marketing sector. He is well known in the vitally important marketing discipline of search engine optimisation and his appointment will lend enhanced authority to our team.”