The professionalism and visitor-orientated service at IFSEC continues to impress one during a visit to this major world exhibition.
With special sponsored facilities for overseas visitors, VIP facilities for people nominated by exhibiting companies, and extensive briefing and conference sessions, IFSEC takes its visitors seriously. The coffee bars and restaurants provide natural meeting places that form natural networking hubs, besides the custom entertainment sections of major stands.
A result is probably the most useful security exhibition in the world with a global representation. A string of surrounding hotels, a number of which have been built since my last visit provide accommodation close to the venue. Book early though as there are not any spare rooms during the exhibition period. Getting an Internet cafè is next to impossible with two computer terminals at a business services centre serving the thousands of visitors. If you visit, make sure you take your own notebook and see if you can arrange log-on facilities to UK services to exchange your mail effectively.
Unique opportunity
As indicated, the facilities at IFSEC present a unique networking opportunity and provide an insight into markets across the world. The many security magazine stands include publishers in just about every country in Europe and are themselves a source of exactly what is happening worldwide. There are opportunities to discuss work with people from all over. Among key people I met and had highly constructive discussions with were people from the US, India, Holland, and the Middle East. It was also good to see a number of South Africans among the visitors.
I spent some time at the CCTV User Group stand that was represented for the first time at IFSEC. According to Peter Fry, chairman of the user group, it was a great opportunity to meet members of the user group that includes a number of people in South Africa. At a dinner at the hotel, Peter was discussing how the user group continues to grow and be a major source of information for users worldwide who can exchange information with each other and access resource documentation on technical, managerial and legal issues within the industry.
Industry recognition
Awards and industry recognition are high on the agenda at the evening sessions at IFSEC. For the industry this has the advantages of promoting standards and providing a basis for fierce competition. At PSI magazine's Premier Awards ceremony on the Tuesday night I was a guest of Mike Tennent of Tavcom Training who won the category for best training provider for the year. These awards are taken seriously in the industry and are a result of reader ratings of nominated companies. Also at the table was the internationally recognised Charlie Pierce of LTC Training in the US. General agreement at the table was a need for an internationally based training association with common standards. An international security education council (ISEC) is currently being driven by ourselves in this regard which could have positive benefits for technology-driven security training worldwide.
Human factor concerns
Key trends at IFSEC were discussed in last month's issue of Hi-Tech Security Solutions. From my human factor perspective, things continued to disappoint with only Tavcom and a major personnel placement company being the only appreciable representation of human factor concerns. In my limited expertise of technical trends the emergence of digital video recorders was, not unexpectedly, a major trend.
However, conversations with people indicated that VCR-based systems are not yet dead. Indeed, I come across a regular number of enterprises which have implemented digital and are now putting VCRs to complement the digital system - somewhat ironic given current developments. Presentations on the advantages of digital over VCRs were well attended as people continue to search for information to assist with their decisions. Interestingly, Charlie Pierce indicates that digital has still not gained full acceptance in the US. Also, IP addressable devices were big and present on many stands. One really interesting camera application was one that uses mirrors to create a 360° image on your monitor - its utility has still to be proven though.
A major trend that I feel is going to impact on CCTV control rooms was LCD monitors. From previous usage as an advertising display facility, these were highlighted this year as CRT monitor replacements and were on most stands. In discussions with some of the UK technical specialists, there are a number of issues raised in terms of the use of LCD monitors in place of CRT ones.
The use of LCD monitors and how they interact with both technology and users is something to be explored in a future issue. What was noticeable in the design area was that although at least four console manufacturers were represented at IFSEC, there is still little innovation in console design. The only thing noticeable was a neat and well-designed console using LCD screens for reception areas although this design could be adapted to CCTV monitoring. Viewing that side of the business convinced me that we in South Africa are still making great progress in the design of some of our sites here compared to the UK.
A trend confirmed in the conference side of IFSEC where I attended a couple of papers, is that privacy legislation is tightening and the criteria for video evidence is becoming progressively more stringent. Handling of evidence material and the procedures within a company designed to regulate this are critical aspects - the best evidence in the world will be thrown out in the UK if you have not handled it properly and the purpose of the surveillance has not been clearly specified.
Dr Craig Donald is an industrial psychologist and specialist in human factors in security and CCTV. He is the co-developer of the Surveillance and Monitoring Assessment Exercise (SAMAE) for the selection and placement of CCTV operators and presenter of the CCTV Surveillance Skills training course. He can be contacted on telephone: 011 787 7811, fax: 011 886 6815, or e-mail: craig.donald@ leaderware.com
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