In Conversation With Jed Stone, Director Issured Ltd.
Jed Stone, Director of Issured Ltd, recently met with Victim Support Europe (VSE) to discuss collaboration between the private sector and victim support efforts. With over 20 years of experience in UK policing, including roles as Head of ICT and CIO, Stone has led various initiatives, notably contributing to the development of the UK Counter Terrorism intelligence system used during the 2012 Olympics. Now, as a Director of Issured, Stone focuses on leveraging collective security expertise to create innovative products and services to support law enforcement and victim support services.
Marina Kazakova, VSE: Jed, why has your company chosen to sponsor events, such as #VSEAC2024, within the non-profit sector? Is this part of your corporate social responsibility programme, or is there perhaps a personal connection; for example, has someone you know received support? More specifically, what motivated your decision to sponsor Victim Support Europe’s Annual Conference 2024 (#VSEAC2024)?
Jed Stone, Issured: Issured has a long history of working with specialist and frontline policing in the UK. In fact, the five directors who formed the company were all involved in counter-terrorism capacity building across the UK.
We are motivated to work with the Police as we strongly believe in their mission to detect, prevent, and investigate crime. We have either seen first-hand, or witnessed, the impact crime has on an individual, and on the people around them.
In the past we have helped police forces, nationally and internationally, to transform the way they work in order to improve their service to the public. Therefore, we have looked to provide solutions that both empower victims and protect their privacy. While we already had corporate social responsibility commitments, having met with Levent and his team in Brussels, we better appreciated the mission of victim support services. We felt that we would like to contribute to and support the wider discussion around transforming victim support through technology.
Marina Kazakova, VSE: Sponsorship is not a purely philanthropic gesture. Sponsors receive certain benefits, which are good for their image, in return for supporting an event. What benefits do you expect to receive by sponsoring events like #VSEAC2024, and what are your expectations in terms of reciprocity? Could you elaborate on the give-and-take dynamic?
Jed Stone, Issured: At our core, we have always helped organisations to operate more effectively, improve their service, and be able to demonstrate value through transformation. We’re extremely excited to learn more about the organisations providing victim support, how they operate and the challenges they face. We benefit as this learning process informs our product development; we’re experts in our field, but the people that work to support victims are experts in theirs. Of course, we can hope that these organisations will use our products and services, but we would only expect them to do so if we can demonstrate how we can help them to overcome challenges or provide an improved service.
Marina Kazakova, VSE: For organisations such as VSE, ethical considerations play a significant role in the selection of sponsors. Could you shed some light on your company’s income sources and its overarching mission and values?
Jed Stone, Issured: While Issured’s revenue is largely generated through our consultancy services, we have recently branched out into software production. Our clients include public sector bodies, government agencies, and insurance counter-fraud teams; they regularly vet our employees and scrutinise the company’s activities to ensure we maintain – and adhere to – appropriate policies and procedures, and that our business practices remain ethical. We promise our customers that we:
- Demonstrate social responsibility
- Act with professionalism
- Are always open to new ideas
- Will challenge and guide them
- Exhibit loyalty and honesty at all times
- Work in partnership with customers and other organisations
- Demonstrate respect and courtesy to everyone
- Always – and importantly – have fun doing what we do!
Marina Kazakova, VSE: Creativity and innovation are key drivers of growth, even in sponsorship endeavours. How does your company approach creativity in its sponsorship initiatives?
Jed Stone, Issured: To date, Issured hasn’t sponsored many events. When we do, we try to ensure that the event offers an added value; for example, we have often sponsored an award, which can mean a great deal to the person or team receiving it.
Engaging in panel discussions is extremely interesting (albeit anxiety inducing!) as you tend to meet interesting people who hold a variety of views that help us, as individuals and as a company, to pause for thought and consider what we do.
The mix of thoughts, opinions, discussions, and passion can lead to the most wonderful innovations. As much as this helps us to expand our horizons, we hope that other people will also challenge themselves to innovate and bring new ideas to life.
Marina Kazakova, VSE: What tangible contributions does your company bring to the victim support sector? Could you provide examples of how your technological solutions have made a positive impact on the lives of victims of crime?
Jed Stone, Issured: As victim support is a very new area for us, I would defer to Frederico Moyano Marques of APAV in Portugal. APAV has been trialling our software for the past four months and we leave it to Frederico to determine whether our solutions have been making a positive impact. Client feedback is always important to us as we are realistic and appreciate that we can always make improvements.
We hope that innovative technology, and of course our products, can be used to help support victims of crime. We all fear becoming a victim; however, if we fell victim to crime, we would wish to receive efficient, effective and empathetic support. We hope that Issured is in a position to be able to provide the tools to help to deliver such support.
