While attending the expo, I could not help but be struck by the rapid rate of evolution occurring in the industry. I was asked as part of an interview, what were the major changes I had seen in the industry over the last 15 years since launching the magazine. Of course, in reality, I have been involved with this industry for a lot longer than that, but it was an interesting question and one which I had to think carefully about.
Upon reflection, I think there have been a number of significant changes in the security industry over the last few decades. For starters, the number of women in the industry has grown exponentially. Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the security industry in Australia was about as male dominated as an industry could get. Today, we have women working at all levels of the industry from operational guards all the way up to consultants, owners and mangers of security product and service providers and female mangers of security departments within large organisations. It is a fantastic evolution and I believe it says a great deal about the maturity of the industry as a whole.
A new generation of security professionals
Another significant change has been the level of professionalism in the industry. Once seen as the guns, guards and gates industry, the emergence of tertiary qualifications in fields like security science have given rise to a new generation of security professionals. Furthermore, the maturing of the security market that has occurred world wide, has seen may security practitioners embrace more traditional business qualification such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), which has enabled security professionals to reimagine the role of traditional security departments. These new hybrid professionals have sought to realign their security departments with the goals of their parent organisations, seeking to move security from its traditional position as a cost center to one of a profit center as security seeks to gain an acceptance within the corporate structure along side marketing, finance and sales.
Without doubt, the greatest change has been the transition from analogue to digital technology. This has enabled a level of interoperability, intelligence, and integration across security and other business units that only a decade ago would have been inconceivable. What is perhaps more exciting, is the fact that everything we have seen in the last ten years will, I believe, pale into insignificance in comparison to what we can expect to see in the next ten years.
It is an extremely exciting time to be involved in the security industry. Change occurs almost daily, technologies update almost monthly and security knowledge is growing exponentially year on year. Can you even begin to imagine what we might expect to find at a security exhibition and conference in 2024?
About the Author: John Bigelow (Editor in Chief, Interactive Media Solutions)