International Security & National Resilience in London. The latest technologies and products for the critical areas of public safety and security were on display at International Security & National Resilience (ISNR), which was held at London Olympia on 4 and 5 December. Visitors from across the safety and security community took a keen interest in a diversity of innovations, including high tech detection, surveillance and communications systems, as well as physical security assets, such as control barriers, blast-proof windows and fire-proof doors. Leading names participating included British Nuclear Group, L-3 Security & Detection Systems, Professional Barrier Systems, Samsung Techwin, Smiths Detection and Thales. The event also attracted a high level of media interest, including BBC TV and radio.

CCTV technology featured prominently, including a new camera that is capable of delivering quality images in conditions of virtual darkness. Other high tech solutions on show included a wholebody imager which quickly and easily locates weapons, drugs and other threats made of any materials – including liquids, metal, wood, rubber, wire, plastic and glass – concealed on the body.

Products for security critical areas such as the verification of personnel, documents and assets, together with license plate recognition, were also featured. Personal security is another major concern today and considerable interest was shown in a GPS based system for enhancing the safety of anyone who works, lives or travels alone.

ISNR Conference

Co-located with the exhibition, the ISNR conference took place. Leading figures from UK and US government agencies participated, including Jay Cohen, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Professor Paul Wiles, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Home Office. This was the first time that the UK has hosted a forum of this type and the delegates who filled the hall for the opening were given a clear picture of the extensive cooperation that exists between the two nations in this critical area.

Day one was the DHS Stakeholders International Conference, which provided delegates with a unique opportunity to meet with senior officials from the Department. On days two and three the conference broke down into five streams: Intelligent Security for Transport and Supply Chain; Critical Infrastructure Protection; Internal Security – Policing and Intelligence; Science & Technology Requirements for Homeland Security; and Integrated Border Management – Tools for Effective Enforcement.

One of the highlights of the streams was a scenario based exercise, led by Chris Parker of Hyder Consulting, in which three experts playing the role of terrorist, security official and an independent authority outlined their functions and plans for attacking and defending a specific targets in an urban setting. An audience of around 100 interacted with the experts by questioning the validity and adequacy of the concepts and plans they proposed.

ISNR 2008 will be held at Olympia on 3 and 4 December. ISNR is the only event in Europe where visitors can meet and network with policy makers and product innovators who provide solutions for protecting the world‘s borders, infrastructures and people. The show also provides a new route to high security end-users, government and public sector specifiers, police and emergency services and the transport infrastructure. This is the only European event where this market is available.

For GIT Security + Management Oliver Haines attended the show.

His thoughts on ISNR:
Key themes on the stands at Reed Exhibitions’ new and broader show ISNR in the Olympia National Hall, London, in December were homeland security, detection solutions, secure communications and disaster management, with the specifics of physical security being much less prominent than the previous year when the event ran as Airport, Port & Terminal Security (APTS).

The show had a very active three-day conference programme hosted by leading figures from all parts of the industry. The first day before the show opened was the US Department of Homeland Security 2007 Science & Technology Stakeholders International Conference and then the next two days dealt with intelligent security for the transport and supply chain, critical infrastructure protection, internal security, policing and intelligence, science and technology requirements for homeland security, and integrated border management tools for effective enforcement.

During the show Best Practice Forum presentations were conducted by individual companies or institutions, giving a very individual presentation which was open to visitors just passing by the Forum area.

ISNR as a whole served to underline how far authorities across the whole EMEA region must go to catch up with the professionalism, training and systems of their US counterparts in many areas of homeland safety and security.

In the current climate of international terrorism and of proliferating threats to our way of life from home and abroad very different to those experienced in past decades, preparedness against attack has to take many forms and so the scope for security solutions from industry-leading suppliers is wider than ever.

Contact:

Victoria Bailey
CMS Strategic,
London, United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 20 8748 9797
Fax: +44 20 8748 5799
info@cmsstrategic.com
www.isnr.com