ISC West is on the immediate horizon, and I asked several industry players what they expect new and different at the industry’s big show. The answers included buzz-worthy topics from Big Data to the Internet of Things, but also mention of a perennial industry theme – integration.
Video embracing social media?
Tom Chamard, Executive Vice President of Sales, Salient Systems, expects social media to emerge as a larger topic of interest at ISC West, especially considering how social media might impact video systems. “When you couple social media data with video, you can become more proactive than reactive,” Chamard says.
Analysing social media activity can provide a useful new data stream to the command centre environment. GPS functionality on smart phones enables social media posts to be isolated geographically; for example, tweets or Facebook postings can be compiled from the immediate area of a big event. “Analysing social media and tying it together with video is a powerful combination of information flow in a command centre environment,” says Chamard. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see something like that at ISC West.”
Cybersecurity trend to continue
The big show will likely also see more discussion than ever of the fast-growing arena of cybersecurity, says Kurt Takahashi, Senior Vice President of Sales, AMAG Technology. “I would like to see a closer tie between the cyber threat and the physical threat, and melding the two pieces of data to define more proactive activity, and understand human behaviour,” he says. “When you talk about Big Data, all the experts are focused only on the cyber piece. They’re not combining it with what’s happening on the physical side.”
Takahashi also expects discussion at ISC West to centre around biometrics and mobile credentialing.
Desire for better IoT innovations
“I would hope to see more players in mobile access, more innovation in mobile devices,” agrees Dean Forchas, HID’s Consultant Relations Manager for North America. He notes that an ongoing transition to use of mobile devices instead of cards for authentication is the biggest change in the industry in the last year.
The growth of integration and partnerships among manufacturers will be reflected at ISC with larger companies sharing their booth space with smaller companies with whom they integrate |
“I would also like to see what people are doing with the Internet of Things – it’s a big buzz, but so far it’s in its infancy,” says Forchas. “I haven’t seen a total home solution using IoT. I think it has potential, but I just can’t get my arms around it yet. I’m hoping people are making strides in that direction.”
Has the age of true integration finally arrived?
“We are really now getting to true integration,” says Dan Rothrock, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Alliances, Vingtor-Stentofon. “More parts are standardised, and we are working with more standards. Integration has finally accelerated to the point that we have worn out the term, and so we have moved to a new term – unification.”
The growth of integration and partnerships among manufacturers will be reflected at ISC with larger companies more often sharing their booth space with smaller companies with whom they integrate. “You will see more and more people (at ISC West) with names of other companies inside their booth, saying, if you have this installed, if you’re using this and are happy with it, I can integrate with it,” says Rothrock. “And I can give you a path to integration. When other people thought they were locked into a proprietary system, you will see more people saying, no, you’re not. I have a solution.”
“Nobody wants to do a forklift replacement,” says Rothrock. “If people are providing a bridge where you can go from one system to another, and do it smoothly and update the technology, what a great way to go.”
ISC West, held from April 5-7 at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, includes more than 28,000 security professionals viewing more than 1,000 exhibitors and brands.
