Jude McCorry ─ Influential leader on a mission to make Scotland a more cyber-resilient country…
March 30, 2022 • 3 Minute Read
Updated October 2022
Jude McCorry
Advisory/Delivery Board Member
Data-Driven Innovation Initiative
(Previously — CEO
Scottish Business
Resilience Centre (SBRC))
Are you looking for an influential leader on a mission to make Scotland a more cyber-resilient country? We know the person—Jude McCorry!
Jude McCorry is the CEO of the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), a nonprofit organisation working in partnership to put resilience at the core of Scotland's business community. She is responsible for making Scotland a safer, more cyber-resilient country, and has a passion for how technology can contribute to a solution. She is one of the founders of the Unicef Data Hub for Children, is a board member of Parkinson’s Scotland, and ensures there is always a social responsibility aspect to everything she does. In her spare time, Jude can be found taking part in sporting activities and spending time with her family and dog, Peggy.
Please meet this IT Wondrous Woman™, Jude McCorry!
Our 10 Questions for this IT Wondrous Woman.
Fun Facts
1. What’s the one thing about you that your business colleagues don’t know about you?
I studied at a convent school during my younger years in Ireland, and all my friends had an Irish name and those name could be translated into Irish – there was no translation for Jude so the nuns called me Sheilagh (Sheila), this then became my nickname throughout my school years.
2. Before the pandemic, how many air miles/KMs did you flying annually?
Approximately 6900 miles.
3. What is the most adventurous food you have eaten and what city/location did you eat it?
Sri Lankan cuisine is by far the most interesting and delightful I have experienced during my trip to Colombo in Sri Lanka. That food left me and my family feeling happy, warm, and content.
Your Career
4. What are the top two experiences, achievements or failures that shaped your journey as a successful leader?
- I worked for a start up that failed during the Dotcom bubble burst, this was one of the biggest learning experiences of my life, to deal with failure and test my personal resilience and see how others reacted to be in that situation too.
- Other experiences include working with technology and bringing it together with humanitarian work to bridge the gap between the two. I currently work with UNICEF and Parkinson’s Scotland to identify and help children on the edge of care, and to use iPhones to remind those who have Parkinson’s disease to take their medication at a certain time, or tracking disease progression for consultants to adapt care plans, there are so many ways technology can be used for good.
5. Did you have a mentor in the early part of your career and, if so, what is the biggest lesson you learned from your mentor or influencer?
My Dad passed away last year which has led me to look at how he shaped my life and was probably my biggest mentor, he was a very fair and smart man – he took time to look at things from others perspectives, but also had a huge social conscience particularly around injustice against people.
At his funeral, hundreds of people turned up and shared stories about how he impacted their lives.
Walking In Your Shoes
6. What is one piece of business or career advice you would give to your younger self?
I live by the motto “if you cannot see it, you cannot be it”. If I could say one thing to my younger self, it will be to work more aggressively in voicing my opinions on the need to change the perception of various aspects of the technology industry – cyberverse included – to increase the accessibility of the sector, hopefully resulting in a better gender balance.
7. As a leader, how do you remain a resource for people early in their careers?
In all my work and endevours, I have wanted to build a more resilient ecosystem and that starts with providing education and exposure to young children in schools to educate and present a balance of genders working in the sector.
Today’s Business Environment
8. What is the most interesting project you have worked on in the last few years?
Most recently, at SBRC we joined forces with the Scottish Govt, Police Scotland and launched UK’s first cyber incident response helpline whereby any business that may have fallen victim to cybercrime can contact us for advice on managing it.
9. What skills are you currently developing or refining (in yourself) that will make you a more successful leader in the digital economy?
In this digital day and age, I aspire to learn more about applying transformative technology. As an industry leader, I endeavour to embrace agility— the more we learn, the better we adapt to an evolving world.
10. What is your greatest business challenge today?
Running a company I hadn’t even technically joined at the onset of the pandemic was a huge challenge in itself. The greatest challenge presently I would say is managing a hybrid model of working and having to constantly review, improve and evolve whilst managing people’s expectations and concerns.
