NEC Corporation of America - Experts & Thought Leaders

The Security Industry Association (SIA) names Gabrielle Shea – Public Policy Manager, government relations and public policy at NEC Corporation of America – as the 2021 recipient of the SIA Industry Advocate Award, which recognises leadership in public policy. Shea will be presented with the award on September 21 at Part 3 of the 2021 SIA GovSummit, SIA’s annual public policy and government security technology conference. The SIA Industry Advocate Award – formerly the SIA Statesman Award – recognises SIA member volunteers for their extraordinary contributions of professional time, leadership and resources to position SIA and its members to address the public policy challenges impacting the security industry. Biometrics technology policy Throughout 2020 and 2021, Shea has supported SIA’s government relations efforts to advocate for responsible biometrics technology policy, including assisting with legislative analysis and drafting, contributing to SIA’s state government affairs initiatives and helping to represent SIA in meetings with legislators in state capitals across the United States. In her role at NEC Corporation of America, Shea helps develop internal initiatives “I am honoured to receive the Industry Advocate Award,” said Shea. “Working with SIA and member companies to help develop and support policy initiatives that aim to simultaneously promote security, privacy, other civil rights and civil liberties and racial and broader social justice has truly been and continues to be, a privilege.” In her role at NEC Corporation of America, Shea helps develop internal initiatives to promote data privacy, artificial intelligence ethics and broader digital trust and helps manage related external engagements with federal, state and local governments. Addressing critical issues Shea holds a J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary and a B.A. in ethics and public policy with a minor in chemistry from Wake Forest University. “SIA is proud to honour Gabrielle Shea as the 2021 SIA Industry Advocate Award winner – she has been an immense help to our government relations team in efforts to support responsible policy on biometrics technology, leveraging her legal expertise and assisting with strategy development and communications on key issues,” said Jake Parker, Senior Director of government relations at SIA. “We congratulate Gabrielle on her outstanding leadership and achievements and look forward to continuing to work with her in addressing the most critical issues impacting our members and security and safety overall.” Securing government facilities Additional session topics will include the latest on federal identity, credential and access management Each year, SIA GovSummit brings together government security leaders with private industry technologists for top-quality information sharing and education on security topics affecting federal, state and local agencies. Part 3 of the 2021 conference will be held as a full-day program on Tuesday, September 21, kicking off at 11 a.m. EDT. Attendees will enjoy a keynote presentation from Dr. David Mussington – Executive Assistant Director of the Infrastructure Security Division at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) – on security challenges and how we can address them as a nation. Additional session topics will include the latest on federal identity, credential and access management, new technologies for securing government facilities and the role of safety and security solutions in infrastructure modernisation. Biometrics technology market In addition to presenting the SIA Industry Advocate Award, SIA will also present the 2021 Women in Biometrics Awards, a globally recognised program co-founded by SIA and SecureIDNews and co-presented with sponsors IDEMIA, Biometric Update and the SIA Women in Security Forum that recognises innovative women creating a more secure world by guiding the biometrics technology market. On-site attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a SIAThere! networking reception Part 3 of the 2021 GovSummit will take place as a hybrid conference, with attendees having the option to join in person or participate virtually via Zoom. The in-person component of the event will be held at the SIA member company (and GovSummit sponsor) CertiPath’s facility at 1900 Reston Station Boulevard in Reston, Virginia. On-site attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a SIAThere! networking reception and can even schedule tours of the GSA testing lab, in addition to attending the full schedule of seminars. Public safety personnel Health and safety precautions will be in place at the in-person event, including physical distancing, and attendees will be required to provide proof of full vaccination. Masking will be strongly encouraged indoors per recent recommendations from the Fairfax County Health Department. This event is free for all government employees, including U.S. and international federal, state, county and municipal-level staff, plus all military, law enforcement and public safety personnel. SIA GovSummit is considered a ‘widely attended gathering’ and complies with all relevant event guidelines. SIA GovSummit 2021 is sponsored by Aiphone; Allegion; Ariel Technologies; Axis Communications; CertiPath; Dell Technologies; GSA Schedules, Inc.; Hanwha Techwin America; HID Global; Identiv; ISC Security Events; Leidos; LenelS2; Louroe Electronics; Security Information Systems, Inc.; and Smarter Security.

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named a new chair and vice-chair to lead the SIA Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board (IBTAB), an exclusive advisory panel to the SIA Board of Directors comprised of biometric and digital identification experts. Benji Hutchinson –president of U.S. federal government business at NEC Corporation of America – will serve as SIA IBTAB chair, with Jim Black – director of security standards and controls within Microsoft’s Cloud Operations and Innovation Physical Security Group – serving as vice-chair. Digital identification solutions In these new roles, Hutchinson and Black will lead the IBTAB in guiding SIA’s engagement with operators of critical infrastructure in the private and public sectors and promoting the advancement and adoption of innovative biometric and digital identification solutions. Benji Hutchinson has 20 years of experience in the IT, biometrics, identity, and computer vision industries and joined NEC Corporation of America in 2016. Hutchinson focuses on expanding NEC’s U.S. federal business, fueling innovation in the aviation sector In his role, Hutchinson focuses on expanding NEC’s U.S. federal business, fueling innovation in the aviation sector, and bringing to market new artificial intelligence solutions to enhance customer experiences and accelerate digital transformation across a variety of use cases. He previously served as senior director for U.S. federal government national security accounts at MorphoTrust USA and held biometric standards and identity intelligence technology consultant roles with the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defence for Intelligence and the U.S. Army Biometrics Task Force. Leveraging biometric technologies Hutchinson serves on the Board of Advisors for the International Center for Biometric Research at Purdue University and the Board of Directors at the IJIS Institute and holds master’s degrees in international affairs and French language and literature, along with a bachelor’s degree in international economics and French, from the University of Kentucky. “The security industry is working to leverage biometric technologies to make society safer and more secure for everyone while protecting privacy and civil liberties,” said Hutchinson. “I’m looking forward to working together with my colleagues to ensure we further develop and promulgate standards and principles that promote equitable uses of biometric technology. We plan to engage in public dialogue to educate and inform decision makers and practitioners about how to safely and effectively deploy these technologies and what it would mean to lose this capability.” Planning protective measures Black is credentialed as a Certified Protection Professional and Physical Security Professional through ASIS Jim Black has been with Microsoft since 2011; in his role, he oversees the physical security standards for the company’s cloud-critical infrastructures globally. Over the past two decades, he has been trusted by a diverse group of the nation’s pioneer companies in assessing risks, planning protective measures, and engineering physical security solutions for a majority of the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors. Black is credentialed as a Certified Protection Professional and Physical Security Professional through ASIS International and as a Certified Security Consultant through the International Association of Professional Security Consultants. “It is an honor to be nominated and elected by my colleagues to the vice-chair role on the SIA Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board,” said Black. “I’m excited and very much looking forward to offering perspective and insights to SIA leadership on critical technology issues impacting security, privacy, and society.” Securing critical assets “SIA’s robust education and advocacy efforts in the identification sector would not be possible without the support and leadership of members like Benji Hutchinson and Jim Black,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. We congratulate Benji and Jim on their new roles leading the SIA Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board" “We congratulate Benji and Jim on their new roles leading the SIA Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board and look forward to working with them to promote biometric and digital identification solutions as a catalyst for good in securing critical assets, protecting individual identity, safeguarding proprietary data and enhancing the consumer experience.” Providing technical expertise Founded in January 2021, the SIA IBTAB provides technical expertise to encourage informed buying decisions in technologies that include facial recognition systems, identity proofing, and verification solutions, biometric devices, and mobile identification platforms. The IBTAB guides the development of several initiatives, including a series of virtual networking roundtables with government officials and periodic SIA-led official meetings with policymakers and key agency procurement officials, and provides input into educational content developed by SIA, such as identity management tracks and sessions at SIA events and SIA’s Security Megatrends, and SIA standards activities.

NEC Corporation, NEC Corporation of America and their partner, Infrared Cameras Inc., were selected by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) to provide thermal temperature screening and facial recognition technology at Hawaii's public airports to help protect the community and identify passengers with a potentially elevated body temperature. The companies combined resources to submit a unified proposal for the project. Preventative measures against COVID-19 "Taking these steps to implement the technology at our airports shows our commitment to providing preventative measures against COVID-19 for the community," said Hawaii's Governor David Ige. "We recognise that temperature screening won't catch every infected passenger, but it is an available tool that can be implemented and combined with the additional measures the State is providing to help prevent the spread of this virus, while helping rebuild the economy." NEC technology deployed at Hawaii's public airports We believe NEC's technology will help to ensure the safety and health of visitors and residents of Hawaii against COVID-19" "We are honoured to become a part of this significant project for Hawaii towards the revival of tourism and business in the state," said Toshifumi Yoshizaki, Senior Vice President, NEC Corporation. "We believe NEC's technology will help to ensure the safety and health of visitors and residents of Hawaii against COVID-19, and our team will make every effort to ensure the success of this public and private joint project together with all of the partner companies." Multi-person thermal screening solution "Team NEC's approach is predicated on enhancing existing processes and services rather than introducing a bottleneck or negative impact to processing speed," said Raffie Beroukhim, Chief Experience Officer for NEC Corporation of America. Raffie adds, "We look forward to working with the State of Hawaii to further automate and enhance the travellers' experiences with our high throughput, multi-person thermal screening solution." NEC and Infrared Cameras selected NEC and Infrared Cameras were selected with a proposal of US$ 23.3 million for equipment and installation and a 10-year maintenance plan of US$ 1.42 million annually for a total contract amount of US$ 37.5 million. The companies were selected in part because of their innovative concept and functionality to deliver accurate and efficient thermal temperature screening for people traveling to Hawaii. The selection committee evaluated various systems and technologies and NEC and Infrared Cameras were determined to be the best fit for Hawaii's needs. Thermal temperature screening equipment The thermal temperature screening equipment will be installed in three phases at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Kahului Airport (OGG), Lihue Airport (LIH), Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA) and Hilo International Airport (ITO). Phase 1 will have the temperature scanners installed this month at the gates currently being used for arriving trans-Pacific flights. Phase 2 will have the temperature scanners installed at the remaining gates in the coming weeks. Phase 3 expects to have the facial recognition equipment installed by December 31, 2020. Leveraging facial recognition technology The system incorporates privacy protections from design to deployment  While the Hawaii airports system will leverage facial recognition technology, people should not think of the features they may have seen in a movie. The system incorporates privacy protections from design to deployment and NEC will work with HDOT throughout this process to ensure the solution meets the requirements of the State of Hawaii. Furthermore, the system will only temporarily retain a picture of a person with an elevated temperature of 100.4 degrees and above to help airport representatives identify them and conduct an additional assessment to determine if health precautions are necessary. Use of thermal image capture technology The picture will be erased within 30 minutes and will not be shared with any outside agencies. Anyone with a temperature below 100.4 degrees will not have their image retained at all. The system will not automatically have a person's personal information, such as their name, address or driver licence number. It will not contain information about criminal history or outstanding warrants. The use of the thermal image capture technology is anticipated to be safer and more cost effective than manual temperature checks. Without the use of facial recognition technology, an employee would need to be next to each camera at all times to pull a person aside as they walk by the camera, creating bottlenecks and further exposing employees to travellers and, thus, possible COVID-19 infection.

Police in the United Kingdom have been testing the effectiveness of live facial recognition (LFR) for several years now, but future uses of the technology have been called into question. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent authority that seeks to uphold information rights in the public interest, has weighed in on issues of data privacy related to LFR, and Members of Parliament (MPs) have called for a moratorium on uses of the technology. The big question is whether the benefits of LFR outweigh its impact on privacy rights. Live facial recognition I believe that there needs to be demonstrable evidence that the technology is necessary" The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee has expressed concerns about bias, privacy and accuracy of facial recognition systems and urged the U.K. government to issue a moratorium on further live facial recognition trails until regulations are in place to address bias and data retention. According to Elizabeth Denham, U.K. Information Commissioner: “[Police trials of LFR] represent the widespread processing of biometric data of thousands of people as they go about their daily lives. And that is a potential threat to privacy that should concern us all.” Denham says live facial recognition (LFR) is a high priority area for ICO. “I believe that there needs to be demonstrable evidence that the technology is necessary, proportionate and effective considering [its] invasiveness,” she says. Potential public distrust “Any organisation using software that can recognise a face amongst a crowd and then scan large databases of people to check for a match in a matter of seconds, is processing personal data,” says Denham. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) wording specifies biometric data as a ‘sensitive’ category of personal information. London’s Metropolitan Police Service performed 10 trials of live facial recognition at various venues in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The London Police Ethics Panel reviewed the trials and concluded that additional use of the technology would be supported if certain conditions were met. One condition is if the “overall benefits to public safety [are] great enough to outweigh any potential public distrust in the technology.” Each deployment should be assessed and authorised as necessary and proportionate. Operators should be trained to understand associated risks and to be accountable, and there should be evidence that the technology does not promote gender or racial bias. Develop strict guidelines Met Police used NEC’s NeoFace technology to analyse images of the faces of people on a watch list The Ethics Panel also specified that both the Metro Police and Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime should develop strict guidelines to ensure that deployments balance the benefits of the technology with the potential intrusion on the public. “We want the public to have trust and confidence in the way we operate as a police service, and we take the report’s findings seriously,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Ivan Balhatchet, who led the trials.  In its 10 trials of live facial recognition, Met Police used NEC’s NeoFace technology to analyse images of the faces of people on a watch list. The system measured the structure of each face, including distance between eyes, nose, mouth and jaw to create facial data, which was used to match against the watch list. The system only kept faces matching the watch list, and only for 30 days. Non-matches are deleted immediately. More accurate identification An independent review of the trials, commissioned by the Metropolitan Police, concluded it is ‘highly possible’ that the Met’s ‘trial’ deployments would not satisfy the key legal test of being considered ‘necessary in a democratic society’ if challenged in the courts, according to U.K. human rights advocacy group Liberty. South Wales Police have partnered with NEC to formally pilot facial recognition technology. NEC’s real-time solution enables trained officers to monitor movement of people at strategic locations. “Facial recognition technology enables us to search, scan and monitor images and video of suspects against offender databases, leading to faster and more accurate identification of persons of interest,” says Assistant Chief Constable Richard Lewis. “The technology can also enhance our existing CCTV network in the future by extracting faces in real time and instantaneously matching them against a watch list of individuals, including missing people.” U.K. human rights advocacy group Liberty has taken legal action on behalf of one Cardiff resident against South Wales Police Intrusive technology “We are very cognisant of concerns about privacy, and we are building in checks and balances into our methodology to reassure the public that the approach we take is justified and proportionate,” says Lewis. U.K. human rights advocacy group Liberty has taken legal action on behalf of one Cardiff resident against South Wales Police over its use of facial recognition. “Facial recognition is an inherently intrusive technology that breaches our privacy rights,” says lawyer Megan Goulding at Liberty. “It risks fundamentally altering our public spaces, forcing us to monitor where we go and who with, seriously undermining our freedom of expression.” ICO’s Denham says any judgment resulting from the legal action will form an important part of ICO’s investigation and will be considered before ICO’s final findings are published. Information management South Wales Police offers the following assurance: “Data will only be retained as long as is necessary for a policing purpose, as per guidance within the Authorised Policing Practice on information management.” Facial recognition systems are yet to fully resolve their potential for inherent technological bias" One concern is that live facial recognition ‘discriminates’ against women and people of colour because it disproportionately misidentifies them, thus making them more likely to be subject to a police attention. ICO’s Elizabeth Denham comments: “Facial recognition systems are yet to fully resolve their potential for inherent technological bias; a bias which can see more false positive matches from certain ethnic groups.” Taking regulatory action ICO has also considered data protection ramifications of commercial companies using LFR. Denham says: “The technology is the same and the intrusion that can arise could still have a detrimental effect. In recent months, we have widened our focus to consider use of LFR in public spaces by private sector organisations, including where they are partnering with police forces. We will consider taking regulatory action where we find non-compliance with the law.” A 27-page U.K. Home Office Biometrics Strategy sets out an overarching framework within which organisations in the Home Office sector will consider and make decisions on the use and development of biometric technology. However, Biometrics Commissioner Paul Wiles says the document “doesn’t propose legislation to provide rules for the use and oversight of new biometrics, including facial images. Given that new biometrics are being rapidly deployed or trialed, this failure to set out more definitively what the future landscape will look like in terms of the use and governance of biometrics appears to be short-sighted.”

Thousands of security professionals gathered Nov. 14-15 at the Javits Center in New York City to explore new products, solutions and technologies, network with security luminaries and obtain high-quality industry education. ISC East, sponsored by the Security Industry Association (SIA), is the Northeast’s largest security industry event; more than 7,000 security professionals attended or exhibited at this year’s conference. Following day 1 of ISC East, SIA gathered industry luminaries and experts for SIA Honors Night, an annual event featuring a cocktail reception, a gala dinner benefiting Mission 500, engaging entertainment and an awards ceremony recognising industry leaders. Sold-out event SIA Honors Night 2018 was a sold-out event held at the Current at Chelsea Piers. The awards presented at SIA Honors Night 2018 were: SIA Progress Award (presented by SIA’s Women in Security Forum) – Eddie Reynolds, president and CEO, iluminar Inc. Women in Biometrics Awards (co-founded by SIA and SecureIDNews and co-presented with sponsors FindBiometrics, IDEMIA and SIA’s Women in Security Forum) – Kelly Gallagher, senior account manager at NEC Corporation of America; Lisa MacDonald, director of the Identity Management Division in the Office of Biometric identity Management at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Colleen Manaher, executive director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Lora Sims, senior biometric examiner at Ideal Innovations, Inc.; and Anne Wang, director of biometric technology research and development at Gemalto Cogent SIA Insightful Practitioner Award – Guy M. Grace, Jr., chair of the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools Steering Committee and director of security and emergency planning for Littleton Public Schools in the Denver suburb of Littleton, Colorado Jay Hauhn Excellence in Partnerships Award – Larry Folsom, co-founder and president, I-View Now George R. Lippert Memorial Award – Pat Comunale, retired security industry veteran, former member of the SIA Board of Directors and former CEO and president for Tri-Ed Distribution, an Anixter company Standout keynotes SIA Honors Night also highlighted Mission 500, a charity that advocates for children and families living in extreme poverty in the United States Honors Night guests enjoyed keynote remarks from Bonnie St. John, a Paralympic ski medalist, Fortune 500 business consultant, Rhodes scholar, former White House official and best-selling author. St. John discussed her journey to become the first African-American ever to win medals in Winter Olympic competition despite having her right leg amputated at age five and shared her top lessons from mentors and her advice for cultivating resilience. SIA Honors Night also highlighted Mission 500, a charity that advocates for children and families living in extreme poverty in the United States; each year, SIA Honors Night raises funds for Mission 500. SIA presented 26 engaging education sessions through the SIA Education @ ISC East program, including two standout keynotes and four hands-on workshops. Hundreds of conference attendees participated in these sessions, with impressive speakers like Valerie Thomas, ethical hacker and executive consultant at Securicon; Pierre Bourgeix, president at ESI Convergent; Scott Swann, president and CEO of IDEMIA National Security Solutions; and Jumbi Edulbehram, regional president – Americas, Oncam. SIA sponsored Infosecurity North America’s Keynote Stage, the central hub of the event Confronting emerging threats Highlighted education sessions at this year’s conference included: Friend or Foe? Technology Disruption and the Physical Security Industry, a keynote address by Philip Halpin, senior vice president and head of global security at Brown Brothers Harriman, one of the country’s oldest and largest privately held financial firms 21st Century Best Practices: Reporting From the Front Lines on How Law Enforcement and the Security Industry Are Confronting Emerging Threats, a keynote address by James A. Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, CNN law enforcement analyst and adjunct assistant professor at St. John’s University Cybersecurity professionals ISC East 2018 was co-located with two additional conferences – Infosecurity North America and Unmanned Security Expo Additional cutting-edge topics covered in the education sessions included the move to smart cities, convergence in the security industry and the use of artificial intelligence in video analytics. ISC East 2018 was co-located with two additional conferences – Infosecurity North America and Unmanned Security Expo. SIA sponsored Infosecurity North America’s Keynote Stage, the central hub of the event, which featured a presentation from world-famous hacker Kevin Mitnick, insights from Dave Hogue of the National Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center, a discussion on the cyber skills shortage gap and ways to attract, develop and retain talented cybersecurity professionals and more. Handle sensitive data Additional events at ISC East 2018 included: A breakfast presented by ISC Security Events and SIA’s Women in Security Forum featuring a panel discussion celebrating women in security and supporting the participation and advancement of women in the industry Paid hands-on workshops providing cutting-edge information and valuable insights on the most current business trends, technologies and new developments in security Free exhibitor product training sessions sharing live, in-depth demonstrations A meeting with SIA’s Data Privacy Advisory Board, which provides information and best practices to help SIA members handle sensitive data in a safe and secure manner to protect the personally identifiable information of their employees, partners and customers from potential breaches