Things that make you go WOW!
I love gadgets and that is one of the reasons that I find the tech at the International Security Expo something I love to understand, to see how it works, to know the issues around installations and integration, to know its strengths, weaknesses and vulnerability’s, so what better environment to get to see all of this at work than an internationally focused security expo.
However, the devil in me knows that this isn’t enough. I have watched enough Hollywood movies to give me an unrealistic perspective of what I think security should be able to do, whether it is from the state or in the gadgets that are used. To try and bring my thinking back into reality one of the themes of this year’s International Security Expo is innovation.
The UK is well known across the globe for its technical prowess and innovation. We tend to invent things that others then take and make a real success of. If we look at the forerunners of QinetiQ, one of our sponsors, they invented the LED and a thing called the ‘Ted Sprite’ detector which was an early super cooled thermal imaging sensor. That innovative streak remains across the industry and I want to highlight it, which is why ‘innovation’ is a key thread through the whole event.
This is where I need your help. My team are great at keeping their eyes and ears to the ground for new ideas, processes, kit and innovations, but it is a huge task. I would love my wider network to highlight anything you have come across that makes you go WOW or ‘that’s really cool’. If you do please either comment below or DM me.
One of the areas of innovation that fits with the International Security Expo as well as our co-located and brand new International Disaster Response Expo is drones. The technology cross over between the two shows is amazing and the theme of innovation flows seamlessly between them.
With our Drone Zone we will highlight as much about the positive use of this amazing and fun technology as well as the associated security implications. However, as the team and I dig into drone uses we have come across some amazing examples. Last year at an event in India, Harshvardhan Zala, a 14 year old boy outlined three prototypes of drones he had built, that can detect and defuse landmines, how amazing is that?
Boeing, utilising one of their unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and Microsoft Hololens holographic technology helped to fight wildfires and as part of a A$16 million Shark management strategy the New South Wales Government is investigating the use of drone to detect, monitor and warn of sharks in the areas where people are swimming. Who said drones are just for TV, hobbyists and contraband smugglers. Oh, for those who don’t believe I know anything about drones, I’m a Parrot man……and for those that get it, I have to start somewhere!
One of the biggest security headaches this month aside the running bodyguards for the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un at his summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore, or the huge data breach Dixons-Carphone Warehouse have just announced, is the security needed to ensure the safe delivery of the football World Cup in Russia, which has just kicked off.
The threats are enormous. Hundreds of thousands of fans coming from all over the globe, politicians, leaders, celebrities, all crowding into stadia and outdoor areas to watch the football. The protecting crowded places challenge for the Russians is enormous, especially as ISIS have just called for lone wolf attacks on the World Cup.
The threat of terror in Russia has always been high and the strain on the Russian security forces during this event will be enormous but it will also be an example of international cooperation where police and security personnel from many contributing countries will be working with their Russian counterparts. All of this with a backdrop of political frostiness.
Then the Russian threat itself seems intriguing and the fact that the England team have all had specialist briefings, been warned about the electronics they take to Russia and had specialist software installed on their personal phones by GCHQ. This suggests an exceptional cyber threat and more for players and probably visitors alike.
The one thing the World Cup will give the International Security Expo is a great context for many of the conferences and activities we have lined up on 28 and 29 November in London Olympia. I have one hope though and that is it doesn’t provide any case studies for the co-located International Disaster Response Expo.
Registration for both these free events has just opened so please come along and ask your friends and colleagues to do the same and I would just like to welcome DFID and the UNHCR team to the International Disaster Response Expo.
REGISTER AT:
www.internationalsecurityexpo.com
www.disasterresponseexpo.com
Director at Covenant
6 年This should make you go wow. My daughter is one of only 36 people in the uk with a very rare medical disorder which also includes learning difficulties. When she left primary school she was 4 years behind. She started senior school in a special education centre and told she would never have the capacity to sit exams but could have full access to all the school would offer. She got her head down and worked hard, after six months she joined main stream lessons with a one on one support teacher. She then went for her GCSE’s and passed them. She then studied A Levels, and she passed them. Last Saturday I sat and went ‘WOW’ as I watched her graduate from Cardiff. Now that should make you go wow. She now looking for work in Cardiff, trust me she will work hard for any employer.