COMPUTACENTER
“I think one of the best things about
working public sector is that it’s easy
to evoke a sense of mission,” says Jonathan
Stern, Public Sector Director at IT services
firm Computacenter. The necessity of
that mission has only been reinforced by
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which
has refocused the public’s attention on
the value of the public sector, in the form
of the NHS and initiatives such as the Job
Retention Scheme.
“Given that I was only a couple of months
into the job proper, it was quite a baptism
of fire,” says Stern. “It’s quite humbling
how Computacenter and my team
stepped up to support that emergency
handbrake turn to homeworking.” Enabling
that has required a strong culture,
as Stern emphasises. “Fundamentally,
we’re a people business. We’re all about
collaboration with our customers and
EXECUTIVE BIOJONATHAN STERN
TITLE: PUBLIC SECTOR DIRECTOR
INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY
LOCATION: FARNHAM, UNITED KINGDOMfirst major central government department.
“We’ve been investing in our NHS business
quite substantially and hiring more talent
to help address NHS trusts on a regional
basis, and a similar approach for police,”
says Stern. “With Brexit coming downstream,
there’s a once in a generation opportunity
to reimagine how government is structured
and how to get the best value out of its
supplier relationships. And the same might
apply for the NHS. It’s a highly fragmented
environment, but you do wonder if a
restructure could yield more coherent, larger
our vendor partners to deliver technical
solutions and outcomes to our customers.”
As for many in the tech industry,
attracting and maintaining talent is
a constant concern for Computacenter.
“Attracting the right talent is connected
to our vision in terms of the public
sector, which is focused on helping to
make the UK a better and safer place to live
and work,” says Stern. “Often the UK is a
consumer of tech services from overseas-
based organisations, and
so there’s a real sense of
responsibility for us in
representing the British
tech industry. That’s
in terms of attracting
talent in a diverse and
inclusive way and
representing the
industry in a way
that’s reflective
of society
as a whole.”