I spent the day yesterday at the Counter Terror Expo in London.
There are very few exhibitions that I enjoy because generally I am
"salesman intolerant" or indeed, sales woman intolerant. I would not
want to be accused of being sexist with my prejudiced opinions of
people whose job it is to sell a product and not let a few minor negative points get in the way of a sale such as "this really isn't the technology
I am looking for" or "that doesn't actually work, does it?"
The CTX in London
was different to my usual experience at exhibitions in that none of
the technology was "being launched" or "on the road map for
development". One or two stands grabbed my attention as I
wandered past trying to take everything in and as I approached I was set upon with the sales patter of a seasoned professional. But generally I was unhindered
in my quest to get familiar with the technology that is available and who is
manufacturing it.
There was a vast
array of heavy security equipment on show. When I say heavy, I mean blast
resistant, bullet proof and solid as opposed to all of the whizzy gadgets that
you may see at other shows; no names of course. There were very few
conventional CCTV cameras and very little network feature rich products such as
access control or video management. The show was packed with solid and proven
technology that is fit for purpose. Remembering that you have to first establish what
that purpose is in your operational requirement.
I guess the tag
"Counter Terror" suggests that we cannot afford to mess about with
new gadgets, which really came through in the show. It is a shame that some
people don't take the same view when dealing with security that doesn't have
the "Counter Terror" tag.
This show is possibly not for the everyday security project and
does concentrate on the more unique or specific issues associated with
terrorism. Thermal imaging, robust video content analysis, robotics, security
screening, armoured vehicles and more 358 weldmesh fence than I care to mention
were amongst the exhibitors. Although why there was so much 358, I am not sure.
A good day out in London, I met some friends and made some new
ones. I might even go again next year.
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