View from South Africa: Seldon on security

30 Sep 09

Showtime...

South Africa’s security industry has successfully survived yet another show/conference/exhibition season with the successful wrapping up of the four top security shows the country has to offer.

First off, naturally, the local version of IFSEC, concisely named IFSEC SECUREX South Africa 2009, came and went with the usual amount of rants and raves about its success, failure and necessity. Needless to say, bookings for next year are already coming in.

Shortly before IFSEC SA, a retail security conference/exhibition, Retail Risk, was held in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Despite the economic woes, the conference was a sell out, possibly due to the focus on the 2010 Football World Cup – due to be held in South Africa next year – and its potential impact on retailers. If the Germans can sell a few million sausages, we should be able to flog a couple of million woodcarvings.

Next, the annual BiometriX conference and exhibition boasted record numbers of attendees. The focus this year was on Integrated Identify Management, a topic of interest from Government down to abattoirs – seriously, the 2009 Access Control Handbook even ran a tiny, yet bloody case study on the topic.

Finally, all the clever smart card people were let out of their offices for the annual CardX conference. The success of this 2-day event can be seen in the fact that most of the delegates returned for a final presentation after lunch on a Friday when there were all manner of watering holes nearby (or perhaps it says something about the delegates).

Some other news from the south includes:

Recession woes?

Texecom UK is an international manufacturer of security products. The company opened its South African head office in Johannesburg in 2000 and established a network of sales and support centres around the country. At the start of 2009, however, Texecom UK sold the South African operation to John Rogers and Brian Anderson, forming Secequip Supplies (Pty) Ltd.

Secequip is working to entrench its position in the South African market and has announced it will also be distributing Impro brand throughout the country. Secequip has employed former corporate account manager for Impro Technologies, George Psoulis to ensure that, through its branch network, Impro products will be available nationwide.

IDtek wins Frost & Sullivan award

The 2009 Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy has been presented to South Africa's IDtek Solutions (IDtek).

Frost & Sullivan stated that IDtek “exhibited superior technical competence, support services and scalability, through its ability to integrate different security systems comprehensively from different suppliers in order to reinforce the security levels for its customers. This allows its clients to view, understand and manage their organisational risk profiles through a single technology interface.”

Employee screening: what you should know

A 2007 Pricewaterhouse Coopers survey highlights South Africa as having the highest economic crime in the world, with department figureheads accounting for 17 per cent of all reported frauds that year. A 2009 KPMG Integrity Survey revealed that 74 per cent of companies experienced misconduct, 59 per cent of people say they will do whatever it takes for success and 5 per cent believe they will be rewarded for their wrong doings.

Centurion releases ChronoGuard

Centurion Systems has created a world first, developed in South Africa, a new, patented technology called ChronoGuard.

ChronoGuard is a feature in Centurion’s new line of sliding gate operators and traffic control barriers that adds a timing functionality to its equipment. Using the integrated LCD and seven-day timer, the user can programme the controller to auto-activate certain functions, and time-bar others.

Wireless guarding

Fidelity Security Services is rolling out the ActiveGuard routing and monitoring solution nationwide to its 52 branches, in a project that will promote real-time, wireless monitoring of guarding activities via GSM network, thereby ensuring proactive guarding and comprehensive reporting for all its clients.

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