IFSEC International 2013 marks the 40th birthday of the show, and to help celebrate, we have compiled a list of 40 of the most influential people in the global security and fire industries.
Read the most influential in security 2016
We asked you for your help identifying the top people in the industry, and you responded in the hundreds, so thank you for your help.
We’re sure that all of you will have your own opinions on who made the list, who we left off, and who should have topped it. But then you would, wouldn’t you?
If you want to follow these industry thinkers, we’ve compiled a Twitter list that you can follow. We’ve also included links to connect with people on Linkedin, so you can take a lead from the #ifsec40.
39 – Andrew Foster, C-Tec
38 – Mike Bluestone, Corps Security & The Security Institute
36 – Peter Finch, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
33 – Peter Holland, Chief Fire Commissioner
29 – Don Randall, Bank Of England
25 – Bill Butler, SIA
24 – Colin Todd, C S Todd and Associates
22 – Brian Robinson, Fire Sector Federation
20 – Andrew Amery, head of security coordination for LOCOG
11 – Johnny Allia, Honeywell Security Products Group
Next Page: Nos. 1 – 10
10
Nick Buckles, G4S CEO
Kicking off our top 10 is perhaps one of the most famous faces of security outside of the security world.
It’s the tabloid bogey man of the London Olympics, Nick Buckles. G4S is one of the biggest security companies in the world and that is thanks largely to Nick Buckles as CEO.
Embroiled in the biggest security story of 2012 — the company failed to deliver their security staff contract in full for the London Olympics — Buckles shot to international fame with his appearances in front of the Commons Home Office Select Committee.
However, investors were already familiar with him as his leadership since 2005 saw G4S grow to become the world’s third-largest private employer after Wal-Mart and Foxconn with revenues in excess of £7.5 billion.
9
Bruce Schneier, BT Managed Security Solutions
“Bruce Schneier instantly knows the amount of Jelly Beans in a jar” — this is one of many “facts” about the security technologist and author from the website schneierfacts.com, an Internet meme dedicated to him.
And there’s a reason his fans attach his face to the body of Chuck Norris: He is killing it in the world of online security.
He founded the company that became BT Managed Security Solutions of which he remains chief security technology officer.
He has authored a number of books, including Applied Cryptography, the 1996 bestseller that was described by Wired as, “The book the National Security Agency wanted never to be published.”
He writes a blog, Schneier on Security, with a readership of over 250,000 people, and regularly writes columns for newspapers, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.
8
Eduard Emde, 2012 president of ASIS International
The first non-US president of the 38,000-member organization that enables security practitioners around the world to improve their understanding of the market.
In 2012, Emde’s presidency was marked by his past IT background and understanding, allowing him to lead ASIS along the dual paths of traditional security management and information security.
Under Emde, ASIS has become an organization that welcomes chief information officers alongside security managers. Network security is now a critical element of physical security systems and we are now possibly seeing the beginning of a change in the makeup of ASIS’s membership, albeit a gradual one.
The 2013 president is Geoffrey T. Craighead, but he hasn’t made it onto the list.
7
Alf Goransson, Securitas president and CEO
The CEO and president of Securitas, one of the world’s biggest security services providers with over 300,000 employees, received a significant number of nominations, so we really had to include him.
Perhaps most significantly, he has come in ahead of his equivalent at G4S, the world’s largest security company.
Goransson masterminded the 2010 takeover of Reliance Security to make them the second biggest security company in the UK and among Europe’s largest. Since then, he has worked hard to raise security guarding standards across the continent.
He is now leading an investment in technology and research in order to create a better customer experience built on a foundation of innovative new security solutions.
6
Keith Bloodworth, CNL Software CEO
Ah, PSIM — that’s an acronym that really splits the security world. Is it an integrated software system that enables better-than-ever situational awareness and a complete understanding of an incident in one place? Or is it an expensive, over-hyped buzz phrase?
Whatever your opinion, CNL Software’s Keith Bloodworth is shaping the integration technology and his vision of a connected and intelligent physical security has inspired those around him to build interest in PSIM as an innovative and useful technology idea.
He was also one of the co-founders of network camera manufacturer Axis Communications and brought the logic of the IT industry to the world of security.
One of his nominations reads: “Few others have invested as much time, energy and resources into fundamental innovation within this industry as Keith. His vision and execution of this is helping to secure the future of each and every one of us.”
5
Alexander Fernandes, Avigilon CEO
Co-founder and CEO of Avigilon, who make some of the security industry’s leading video surveillance products.
Fernandes’s vision has seen the Vancouver-based HD surveillance manufacturer grow from a startup in 2004 to one of Canada’s fastest-growing technology businesses with a realistic aim of becoming the world’s leading surveillance manufacturer.
After leading a successful IPO in November 2011, since when Avigilon’s stock has risen by over 250 percent, Fernandes aims for Avigilon to have revenues in excess of CA$500m by 2016.
When you look at the general high quality of their products this is easy to believe.
It would be a realistic prediction to say that Fernandes’s high-definition products will lead him to rise up our list in years to come. But for our first edition, he rounds out our top five.
4
Peter Hawksworth, Siemens security products CEO
Peter Hawksworth has helped turn Siemens security products division around from a loss-making business to a profitable one.
The company is less focused on producing simply market-leading products, but on creating complete security systems. Intelligent buildings, integrated thinking — these are the kinds of phrases that Hawksworth associates the business with now.
While their core business remains access control and intrusion alarm products, they also have a wide range of surveillance options and Hawksworth was the first to introduce leasing options for CCTV systems allowing customers to pay over a five-year period. This innovative approach helped both Siemens and their customers.
Siemens opened a £30m “sustainable cities initative” — The Crystal — in late 2012 to showcase their vision for the future of cities. Keeping those cities safe will be something that Hawksworth and his team will surely lead the way in.
3
Per Bjorkdahl, ONVIF chairman
Per Bjorkdahl is at No. 3 in our list as the new chairman of the video surveillance standards group ONVIF. As previous chairman, Jonas Andersson was originally in our top 40 but now that Bjorkdahl has taken over, we had to put Bjorkdahl in.
ONVIF has done some extremely interesting work to unify the surveillance community.
Founded by Axis (where Bjorkdahl has his day job), Sony, and Bosch Security Systems, ONVIF has simplified security technology interoperability, a process that in the coming years we think will lead to a contraction in overall numbers of surveillance suppliers.
With over 438 member organizations, ONVIF is unprecedented in scale, but there are others snapping at the heels.
That’s why the organization is concentrating on improvements in their access control standards and video storage as we head into 2013. Bjorkdahl will be at the forefront of continued physical security development through ONVIF.
2
Mike Howard, Microsoft chief security officer
As the cybersecurity threat grows at unparalleled pace, traditional threats are generally what is on the mind of Mike Howard.
With 700 facilities around the world employing over 90,000 people Mike is in overall charge of everyone that keeps Microsoft — including their precious data and R&D facilities — and is an evangelist for security in the company.
He regularly leads dialogues and communication across Microsoft to help people understand the importance of both physical and cybersecurity in a fashion that has led to security being seen as an integral part of the business’s success.
He told BusinessNewsDaily in 2011: “Security is not something that should be thought of as ‘break glass only in times of emergency.’ It affects a brand’s reputation, can result in lawsuits, and requires initial investments up front.”
Unlike many others in our list, Howard has to think about the threat of software piracy to the business as well as protecting server and building integrity. And Microsoft arguably face a greater threat from hackers than most other organizations.
1
Martin Gren, Axis Communications
Co-founder of Axis Communications in 1984, Martin Gren has been at the forefront of the recent IP camera revolution. In 1996 he helped invent the world’s first network camera, which left the organization in a prime position to become the world leader in the network camera market.
Axis Communications has led the migration from analogue to digital video surveillance and is also considered to be the second biggest supplier of video encoders.
While Ray Maurittson has long since taken over as president and CEO of Axis, Gren remains a senior member of the board and maintains a 10.6 percent shareholding of the company.
The video surveillance market has been defined by the network camera, and while there may be other companies who are pushing forward faster, Gren’s influence on the industry is undoubtable.
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