IFSEC

IFSEC 2017 in review: Borders & Infrastructure Expo makes triumphant debut and Brian Cox draws biggest-ever keynote audience 

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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
July 14, 2017

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Whitepaper: Multi-residential access management – The move to digital

Professor Brian Cox gave a thought-provoking lecture on the origins of the universe in front of a record audience at the Honeywell-sponsored Keynote Theatre in Safety and Health Expo 2017, which was co-located with IFSEC 2017.

Addressing a packed audience, the TV presenter and physicist extraordinaire said he had asked the organisers “if they needed me to talk about safety and security. They said no; just talk about the universe.”

Other keynotes included double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes, rugby union Referee Nigel Owens MBE and Falklands War veteran Simon Weston CBE.

Product launches

Elsewhere, IFSEC International – which took place over three days between 20-20 June at London ExCeL – was, as usual, the chosen launchpad for a plethora of brand-new, cutting-edge products. Among the innovations unveiled at the show was Veracity’s end-to-end command and control system, Edesix’s new body-worn camera series, Calipsa’s AI-powered video monitoring platform and Redvision’s “quietest, fastest ever” PTZ and mould-breaking rugged camera enclosure. IDIS, meanwhile, introduced a new seven-year warranty – the longest in the industry. Read more about the products launched at IFSEC here.

Borders & Infrastructure Expo

Perhaps the most significant new feature introduced for the 2017 edition was Borders & Infrastructure Expo. Sponsored by Genetec, this show within a show featured the Drone Zone, BRE Global/LPCB Attack Testing Zone, VIP Meeting Service, JSaRC and the Borders & Infrastructure Theatre.

Former IATA (International Air Transport Association) chief John Hedley argued that we’re making life too easy for terrorists in the Borders & Infrastructure Theatre on day one. We also reported on how police and security drone use on the rise.

Speaking of drones, The Drone Zone wowed the crowds with live airborne demonstrations of drone technology from Yuneec and Aviat Drones, among other innovative developers and service providers, with support from the UK Drone Show.

Installer World

An area of the show dedicated to installers was another IFSEC first. Sponsored by RISCO, Installer World featured the Tool Zone – where, courtesy of Anglia Tools, visitors could sample a wide range of hand and power tools and take advantage of exclusive discounts – workwear, the Engineers of Tomorrow competition, recruitment consultants and a networking bar – all in one place. Installers, engineers and integrators could test and trial more than 10,000 of the latest products from leading suppliers such as Hikvision and Panasonic.

Videos and photos

The whole experience was documented expertly once again by IFSEC TV (courtesy of Silverstream), with exhibitors demonstrating some of their latest innovations to camera as they did to visitors. Among the interviewees was Martin Gren, who co-founded the surveillance giant in 1984 and recently topped the security manufacturers/service providers category in our roll call of the Top 50 influencers in security & fire 2017.

Watch some highlights from across the three days here or check out some of the best photos from London ExCeL.

As is becoming an IFSEC Global tradition, we challenged security technology vendors at IFSEC 2017 to pitch their products to camera in just 30 seconds. The challenge was taken up by Paxton, HID Global, Pelco, CSL, AxxonSoft, Dahua, Uniview Technologies, Vanderbilt, Kedacom, LT Security, Promise Technology and Genetec.

Seminars

The seminar theatres were particularly busy in a year when security-related issues have rarely been out of the national and international headlines. In the Security Management Theatre, a packed audience heard how video analytics was “oversold and underutilised” but key to preventing terror attacks. We also reported from the same theatre on the trends shaping the future of access control.

The Tavcom Theatre, meanwhile, featured presentations on cybersecurity, preparing CCTV evidence for the criminal courts and how to optimise your network for CCTV, among other things.

Browse through all our content about IFSEC International 2017 here.

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