Plans are underway to create an association to represent the interests of South Africa's leading access control and time-and-attendance (T&A) companies.
ACE - for Access Control Expertise - will execute various functions to promote leading products and services to end users as well as the industry itself.
The concept of the ACE association has its roots in the Access Control Expo of 2005. This ground-breaking event was a collaboration between Blick, Ideco, Bosch, ADI, Turnstar, Sagem and Technews and was the first time that key players in the industry had combined to present fully integrated solutions to specifiers, consultants and major end-users. The success of the first event has resulted in the eagerly anticipated 2006 Expo, scheduled for 19 October 2006. Once again, it will be held at The Kyalami Castle in Johannesburg and will follow a format similar to the 2005 event. Mark Eardley of Ideco Group says, "ACE 2006 will be an opportunity to experience working solutions across the whole spectrum of access control and T&A. We will be inviting key influencers and users to join us for an excellent lunch and to interact with the industry's very latest developments. We will also be using the Expo to launch the concept of the ACE association."
One element of the new association will be to organise and co-ordinate seminars, road shows and events that will educate targeted market sectors regarding best practices and products in the industry. The association will also look to develop industry standards and accreditations in keeping with the high standards already adhered to by the industry's foremost players.
Early discussions among the current ACE Partners have highlighted a number of key functions for the Association. In particular, an information resource is seen as crucial in terms of gathering and disseminating product and market information. This 'pull-push' resource will serve ACE Partners themselves and current and potential end-users. The resource will certainly benefit end-users in terms of providing advice when selecting products and services. A practical example of the resource in action is within the technically complex and still relatively new field of biometrics. As it stands now, the market is being bombarded with information about biometric products and their associated benefits with the result that end users are often unable to make prudent buying decisions based on accurate information. ACE will not only provide the information that is crucial in understanding the biometrics market, it will also assist end users with the choice of the right biometric solution to implement based on a network of selected biometrics suppliers in the industry.
Initial discussions among the current ACE partners have highlighted key functions of the association, including it becoming an 'information resource' for all issues pertaining to the access control and time-and-attendance sector.
The establishment of such a central body to represent the industry has far reaching social as well as economic benefits that go beyond the provision of information. On a national level, the centralisation of the access control and time-and-attendance industry will aim to provide large-scale benefits for events such as the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. In South Africa, the need for a core association that has the expertise in providing tailor-made solutions for access control and time-and-attendance will become key to the success of events such as the Soccer World Cup.
The need for an authoritative industry board that would ensure that all aspects of event security are effectively coordinated and managed through the provision of fully integrated solutions, is becoming increasingly evident as the variety of security solutions continues to grow. ACE will provide the know-how and authority that will provide end-users with the best in the industry - and the peace-of-mind that goes with knowing that the chosen solution is proven, reliable and accredited by the leaders in access control and time-and-attendance.
The association will represent a maturing of the access control and time-and-attendance industry. It will provide members and the markets they serve with industry-wide standards that ensures that the professionalism currently displayed by the industry's leader is maintained.
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