Yoti has a new executive to lead growth in Scotland, and he brings to the team a wealth of experience in public safety.

The company’s new Regional Business Growth and Partnerships Executive, Gordon Scobbie, is an ex-cop. He served as Chief Inspector for the Strathclyde Police from 1980 to 2004, and proceeded to hold multiple positions with the West Midlands Police and Tayside Police in the ensuing years.

More recently, though, Scobbie has moved into the realm of consulting and tech, having served as Ericsson’s Head of Public Safety in Western and Central Europe, for example, and as the Justice and Public Safety Business Development Manager for Amazon Web Services.

In a blog post announcing Scobbie’s appointment, Yoti explained that his “experience and knowledge will be invaluable as we work with the Improvement Service in Scotland to help deliver digital services to citizens,” referring to a partnership the mobile identity specialist established with the Scottish Government last August. Elaborating on the role himself, Scobbie notes that he’ll be working not only in Scotland but in the UK more broadly, and says his work will “include matters where government policy and legislation hasn’t quite moved with the digital age and where my background can help influence decision makers on the importance of Yoti in this space.”

Yoti’s technology revolves around the use of mobile devices for official ID and authentication, incorporating facial recognition and document reading. The company is aiming this technology at a range of applications including official government ID.