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From the editor's desk: A new start

Andrew Seldon, Editor

Welcome to the first issue of the Smart Access & Identity handbook, Smart Access & Identity 2023. While this is the first issue, it’s also a continuation of Hi-Tech Security Solutions’ long-standing Access & Identity Management Handbook, which we decided needed an overhaul.

Part of the reasoning behind the change is that the market has changed and our focus in launching the Access & Identity Management Handbook all those year ago has also changed. There is nothing revolutionary in Smart Access & Identity, apart from the fact that it is geared towards the access and identity market we find ourselves in today. The old 125 kHz card technologies were with us in the beginning and are still with us (although hopefully in declining numbers), but just as things have not changed radically, so things have changed radically, and we want to take our readers on the journey with us, keeping up with current realities and future possibilities.

For example, as with most things in today’s world, mobile devices are taking over everything. In the access control world this may take some time, as the market is not known for making radical changes overnight, but in identity management you can now open a bank account and transact with a selfie (not quite that simple, but close). With Smart Access & Identity we aim to focus on the ‘Smart’ aspect and how intelligence is now part of all we do … if we are doing it Smart.

Over the course of this year readers will see Smart appearing everywhere. From Smart Surveillance to Smart Estates and everywhere else. In the economy we face, working smarter is a matter of survival, not some cliché from a self-help book.

A changing world needs an updated focus on security; a focus that incorporates all the things security professionals today need to integrate into their thinking and their solutions. Whether it is building or facilities management, cybersecurity, or simply a smart doorbell, the industry has changed, the skills required to succeed in the industry have changed and the people, both users and practitioners, have changed. It may be hard to believe, but the older generation is moving on (admittedly very slowly) and there are new faces, new attitudes, and new approaches to the security market we have known for so many years.

Smart Access & Identity 2023 is our first step into integrating the new with the old, to be able to continue to provide readers with an accurate overview of the market we all operate in (we’re always telling the market that integration is essential, so it’s only right we do a bit as well). Be sure to look out for an increasing number of Smart things from us in the future.

As always, we don’t expect to know everything, so please give us your opinion on Smart Access & Identity 2023 and future publications. Send your comments, criticisms and advice to andrew@technews.co.za. Input from readers, whether users or industry practitioners, is very highly valued.

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