From the editor's desk: A sad but exciting goodbye

Issue 8 2023 News & Events


Andrew Seldon, Editor

Welcome to the final monthly issue of SMART Security Solutions. This is the last issue of the year and the last monthly issue we will print. We are witnessing digitisation across all industries, and as digital platforms continue to gain popularity, we have decided to stop monthly print publications in 2024. This decision is part of our rebranding exercise, which began with the retirement of Hi-Tech Security Solutions and our transition to SMART Security Solutions. We aim to innovate by embracing digital media and offering content on more platforms.

That’s not to say SMART Security Solutions is disappearing or that we won’t print anything. We will be publishing six handbooks in 2024. In the ‘in-between’ months, we will be hosting conferences, still focused on the converging security market. We will also hold more online events, which we will promote in our email news briefs.

Our email news briefs will continue and will be sent out every Tuesday to keep the industry updated on what’s happening (if you don’t receive our news briefs, feel free to send an email to [email protected] and ask to be added to the SMART Security Solutions news brief list). If you are on this list, you will automatically receive the brand new ‘Editor’s Choice’ news brief, in which I will publish exclusive content. The Ed’s Choice news brief will be published once per month (roughly) on a Thursday.

To provide readers with an idea of what we will be doing next year, I have listed the handbooks to be published and the conferences we will be hosting below. As noted, updates will be sent out in advance in the news briefs and will be put on the events page (www.securitysa.com/calendar.aspx).

Our handbooks for the year will be:

• January: SMART Access & Identity 2024.

• March: SMART Mining Security 2024.

• May: SMART Surveillance 2024.

• July: SMART Estate Security 2024.

• September: SMART Alarms, Intruder Detection and Perimeter 2024.

• November: SMART Fire and Safety 2024.

Conferences to look forward to, along with the proposed dates, include:

• February: SMART Estate Security Conference Cape Town (22 February 2024). Find out more at www.resc.co.za.

• April: SMART Surveillance Conference (10 April 2024).

• June: SMART Mining Security Conference (25 June 2024).

• August: SMART Security Convergence Conference (22 August 2024).

• October: SMART Estate Security Conference Johannesburg (24 October 2024).

You can find the complete media kit on www.securitysa.com/ex/SMART-2024-media-kit.pdf, and I will be updating readers in the weekly news briefs closer to the time.

It is a sad goodbye to the monthly issues; I still remember my first two interviews for Hi-Tech Security Solutions (many years ago) as the new editor. One was with the late Terry Scallan and the very current Errol Peace; the second was with Roy Alves, then with Axis Communications. It’s been a long road, but change is inevitable, and we are excited to get stuck into the new SMART Security Solutions era. We hope everyone joins in the adventure with us.

The SMART Security Solutions team wishes all our readers and advertisers a relaxing festive season and a peaceful and prosperous 2024.

If you have any comments, criticisms or suggestions, please feel free to let me know at [email protected].


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