Gary Craig has been appointed as Sales Director at global systems leader, Advanced, further strengthening its senior leadership team.

A well-known figure in the fire industry, Gary has spent the past 35 years in the sector with previous leadership positions at several key product manufacturers. In his most recent role as Global Sales Director at Johnson Controls, Gary was responsible for driving growth and customer engagement across multiple channels and brands.

In his new role at Advanced, Gary will be responsible for accelerating growth in both UK and international markets while maintaining the business’ core values and building upon its reputation as the preferred choice in fire alarm control and indicating equipment manufacturer.

Gary said: “Advanced’s track record within the industry for manufacturing and supplying high-performing, reliable and easy to use fire alarm control panels is second to none, and I am thrilled to be able to be able to join at a time when the business is enjoying such strong growth across both its UK and export markets. I look forward to building upon these foundations alongside the sales team, who all have a great breadth of knowledge and experience and are well respected by our customers, specifiers and end users.

“A key focus for me will also be the development of new markets and channels whilst constantly striving to enhance our customers’ experience at every touchpoint. Accelerated new product development and a focus on digital connectivity and cloud-based platforms will put Advanced in a strong position to leverage new technologies and remain at the forefront of our industry.”

In 2019, Advanced’s turnover increased by 20 per cent to £25million on the back of particularly strong growth in the UK, Europe, Asia Pacific and Australia.

Advanced’s Managing Director, Pete Browitt, said: “Gary is an excellent addition to our leadership team and his appointment will, without doubt, bring value and momentum to the strategic direction of the business. His strong background in sales, coupled with his international focus and expertise will help take us to the next level in areas such as customer relations and our growth strategy.”

Advanced, owned by FTSE 100 company Halma PLC, protects a wide range of prestigious and high-profile sites across the globe – from London’s Shard to Abu Dhabi International Airport and Miami’s Sands Pointe development.

Halma is a global group of life-saving technology companies with a clear purpose to grow a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.

Advanced is a world leader in the development and manufacture of intelligent fire systems. Advanced’s reputation for performance, quality and ease of use see its products specified in locations around the world, from single-panel installations to large, multi-site networks. Advanced’s products include complete fire detection systems, multiprotocol fire panels, extinguishing control, fire paging and false alarm management systems.

The Axis Talk 2020 – first online conference in Eastern Europe will take place on June 25, 2020 in four languages ​​- English, Czech, Polish and Russian. The full day program will offer, among other sessions, keynote from Martin Green, the inventor of the first IP-camera and the co-founder of Axis Communications or other international experts.

Axis Communications’ is introducing a new event format for the whole Eastern Europe – digital conference broadcasted online, which will take place on June 25 from 9.50 to 16.00 (UTC +1). Participants can register either for individual sessions or spend the whole day at the online conference.

Everything important about security, video surveillance and IP-technologies
The online conference is intended not only for Axis partners and system integrators, but also for all interested end users. It will bring the latest information about IT and security solutions, smart IP-technologies and surveillance industry as such.

The main featured presentations will include following keynotes:

10.00–10.20
Evolution of Security IoT – a dialog about the past, present and future
What were the beginnings of the Internet of Security Things? What we face today and what awaits us in future developments? These topics will be discussed between Martin Gren and Magnus Zederfeldt

11.00–11.30
AI analytics in the surveillance industry
AI and deep learning bring opportunities for a new generation of video analytics. For many use cases expectations are very high, at the point of being inflated. How do we take advantage of the new opportunities for system solutions and operator efficiency while balancing these expectations?

13.40–14.10
Axis end-to-end solutions for surveillance
Introducing the benefits with an end-to-end solution from Axis with emphasis on AXIS Camera Station. We will introduce Axis range of network video recorders, demonstrate solution ease-of-use and special capabilities, and highlight how AXIS Site Designer helps you to easily design your solution.

14.50–15.20
Audio for security – amplify your surveillance offering with IP audio
Deterring crime by speaking directly to the intruder? Yes, you can. There are many situations when network audio can enhance a security solution. Get to know network audio and its benefits.

The entire Axis Talk 2020 conference program and free registration can be found on the dedicated conference website.

Momentum builds towards an exciting and secure exhibition, a diverse conference programme and debut of The Next Web’s Growth Quarters

MUNICH 19 JUNE 2020: Planning for Integrated Systems Europe 2021 is well underway with its organisers, Integrated Systems Events, committed to delivering a compelling and safe exhibition for the world’s audiovisual integrated systems community.

The 17th edition of ISE is set to take place at its new home at the Fira de Barcelona, Gran Vía, 2-5 February 2021. The world class exhibition centre plans to reopen for business in September. This will follow the successful completion of a collaboration with risk mitigation consultancy AON and the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona which will determine the specific security criteria for holding B2B events at the venue later this year.

Over 850 world leading technology and solutions providers have already committed to participate at ISE 2021. Over 55,000 sqm of exhibition floor-space has been confirmed for nine dedicated technology zones. This represents a 5% increase on the total floorspace booked for the 2020 show.

The state-of-the-art exhibition centre will house a new-look ISE featuring nine dedicated technology zones, in an easy to navigate layout. These are: Audio, Broadcast and Content Creation (new), Digital Signage & DooH, Education, Live Events (new), Residential, Smart Building, Unified Communications and VR/AR/XR.

A significant development for ISE 2021 is the strategic partnership with The Next Web (TNW), a world-leading technology media brand with extensive reach among global start-ups and technology businesses in general. In conjunction with ISE, TNW will present Growth Quarters – four days of keynotes and presentations addressing all aspects of business growth and scale-up, presented by inspiring technology innovators and experts. TNW will also present Fast Lane, where start-ups create solutions that address specific ‘pain points’ within AV businesses.

In addition, a five-day solutions-themed series of 14 conferences will cover a wide range of topics including digital signage, design and build, control rooms and XR. The extensive programme has been devised in association with ISE co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA. Both associations will also produce their own dedicated series of training sessions and themed events.

ISE will also be developing the show’s digital reach to help engage with a bigger audience than ever before. This will include a wide selection of cross-platform live ISE content being made available, along with many other engaging digital opportunities to help attendees connect with the world’s leading technology innovators as well as hear from thought-leaders and experts.

Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “ISE is committed to delivering an engaging in-person event in Barcelona and is taking all necessary steps to deal with the new post-pandemic reality that will impact those attending exhibitions and conducting international business.

“The Fira de Barcelona has partnered with AON and the Hospital Clinic de Barcelona and other experts to create a set of safety protocols that are designed to guarantee health and safety around the conditioning of spaces and the regulation of visitor flows. This work started in April and involves risk evaluation, the creation of mitigation strategies and an action plan. Once completed, guidelines for event organisers and exhibitors will be communicated.

“We are listening and adjusting to ensure the show continues to provide the connections the industry needs to grow brands and business. We are determined and confident that we can deliver a compelling show in a safe and secure environment.”

ISE 2021 will take place at the Fira de Barcelona, Gran Vía on 2-5 February 2021.

For more information please visit: www.iseurope.org and www.firabarcelona.com

We are proud to announce ZKTeco Europe and Antenall d.o.o. have signed a Strategic Distribution Partnership to further develop ZKTeco’s market presence of Access Control, Time Attendance and Security solutions in the Serbian market.

As a Distribution Partner, ZKTeco Europe welcomes Antenall d.o.o. as a new key partner in Serbia to broaden ZKTeco’s relevance and increase our presence in the addressable Adria market. This partnership expands the development of opportunities by being exposed to new perspectives and expertise. We hope customers benefit from the strengths and offerings each organization brings to the Security industry.

About Antenall d.o.o.

Antenall d.o.o. was established in 2003 in Belgrade, Serbia. The company has been developing along with new global trends and as one of the leaders in the security business, they successfully provide complete solutions to their customers and meet all business challenges.

About ZKTeco
ZKTeco is a multinational enterprise, that specializes in the manufacture and development of time and attendance and access control technology. With over 20 years’experience in the global market, it benefits from a highly qualified team of over 3500 employees worldwide with its own manufacturing plants that, together with its R&D and engineering departments, ensures complete in-house production of all aspects of its hardware, firmware and software. One of the pioneers in multibiometric and RFID technology, ZKTeco’s products are present around the world, with over 180 million users worldwide, and we continue to grow.

For further information of the products and services we can offer you, please contact us at sales@zkteco.eu.

The global contactless biometrics technology market size is expected to reach USD 30.15 billion by 2027, registering a compound annual growth rate of 20.3% from 2020 to 2027, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc.

The latest information from the research company suggests that, rising demand for security and surveillance due to an increasing threat of terrorist attack and penetration of contactless biometrics solutions in enterprise applications is anticipated to propel the market growth. Additionally, the demand is steadily increasing amid the COVID-19 outbreak. This pandemic has also influenced various digital businesses, which are now developing facial recognition systems to secure their online platforms.

A rise in digital banking across the globe is creating major impetus behind the introduction of voice and facial recognition in the banking and financial sector. For instance, in June 2016, Citigroup Inc. introduced voice biometrics to verify customer’s identities. The use of contactless biometrics authentication for banks offers an additional, convenient, and user-friendly way of verifying their customers, thus delivering a consistent and superior user experience with strong and secure authentication across channels.

Moreover, software vendors are providing various development kits to the market, allowing technology providers to offer advanced contactless biometrics software for their hardware. By way of example, according to Grand View, in January 2020, Facefirst, launched a software development kit (SDK) for identity verification product developers to integrate advanced facial recognition into their systems. The SDK works offline or online, runs in a docker container, and supports Linux OS to enable easy integration into any IoT device.

Some of the key organisations named by the analysts as major players in this market include Aware Inc.; Fingerprint Cards AB; Fujitsu Limited; Gemalto N.V.; HID Global; Idemia; M2sys Technology; NEC Corporation; Nviasoft; and Touchless Biometric Systems AG.

HID Global, a worldwide leader in trusted identity solutions, announced a collaboration with Fidesmo, a provisioning company that makes it possible to connect contactless services to wearables. Fidesmo has integrated HID’s next generation Seos credential technology into secure element chips that are used in a wide variety of wearables.

“As wearables grow in popularity, organizations of all types will be confronted with the need to support new form factors for physical access and other popular applications,” said Steve Currie, VP and Managing Director of Extended Access Technologies with HID Global. “Working with Fidesmo to bring more use cases to wearables delivers on the promise of Seos credential technology to provide users the freedom to use their preferred device, whether it’s a phone, card or wearable, to easily navigate their daily life.”

Because Seos credential technology is designed for flexibility, Fidesmo can load the Seos applet into the tamper-resistant secure elements (SE) produced by the most prominent chipmakers in the world. This will enable wearables manufacturers using the broadest range of SE chips to add building and parking access as well as complimentary applications to their smart watches, watchbands, rings and other devices. Authentication to PCs, IT systems and cloud applications, secure print job collection, time and attendance, point of sale, and automated cashless vending, are some of the numerous additional applications supported by Seos credential technology.

“The Fidesmo team is honored to join HID’s partner network and looking forward to our mutual journey as we provision HID’s secure access credentials over our platform,” said Mattias Eld, CEO, Co-Founder of Fidesmo. “Working with HID we are forwarding our vision to enable people to choose their favorite wearable and connect and use it with any contactless service they need – anytime, anywhere.”

The partnership makes it possible for employees to use their personal wearable device to add the access control service, and companies can also order a number of wearables for their dedicated use, in special areas or even adding more services to them, like payment or their employees’ public transit job ticket.

Fidesmo’s integration process allows wearables manufacturers to add contactless services to the tamper-resistant secure element in their devices. This also makes it possible for contactless service providers to distribute their services to many devices without the need for hardware. For wearables users, no pre-configuration is needed. They simply connect to the services and applications that have been provisioned to their wearable, easily and securely.

Adding access control capabilities to wearables also addresses environmental constraints, such as a clean room with specific gear and uniforms that preclude using smart cards and/or biometric identification—making it ideal for pharmaceutical production environments, as well as operations rooms, mining, car and food production, and anywhere where sanitization compliance is a priority.

There are imminent changes to the Securitas Group Management team, which will be reduced by two, as Aimé Lyagre, COO and CTO Security Services Europe, has decided to leave the group.

According to the company, this role is not replaced and the responsibilities will be split between Henrik Zetterberg, who remains COO Security Services Europe and a member of Group Management but with expanded responsibilities across Europe, and Thomas Lundstedt who joined Securitas as European Solution Leader in April 2020.

The role of President Aviation will no longer be part of Group Management. These changes are effective from July 1, 2020. All other Group Management members continue in their present roles.

“Aimé Lyagre has decided to leave Securitas. During his 16 years with Securitas he has been a highly appreciated leader and colleague. Among many other things, Aimé has been instrumental to delivering Electronic Solutions in Europe. I want to thank Aimé for his contribution and wish him the best of luck going forward”, says Magnus Ahlqvist, President and CEO.

Cisco Systems announced that it intends to acquire ThousandEyes, a security-software company, reportedly for close to $1 billion.

San Francisco-based ThousandEyes is an interesting startup, that has made a name for itself with its service that watches pretty much the whole internet to help companies figure out the source of performance problems of websites and web-based apps. For instance, it can determine if an outage is the company’s fault or that of its service providers.

While Cisco wouldn’t say what it plans to pay, ThousandEyes has raised a total of about $111 million with an estimated valuation of $670 million as of February 2019, according to Pitchbook. Bloomberg previously reported that the deal could be valued at “nearly” $1 billion.

On March 5, ThousandEyes reported that it had $100 million worth of revenue under contract for its 2020 fiscal year — representing growth of almost 80% year-over-year.

“The combination of Cisco and ThousandEyes will enable deeper and broader visibility to pinpoint deficiencies and improve the network and application performance across all networks,” said Cisco executive Todd Nightengale.

Bloomberg News reported earlier in the day that the deal was in the works and could be completed Thursday, with a price tag approaching $1 billion. Cisco did not disclose the purchase price. Cisco expects the deal to close before the end of its fiscal first quarter, which begins in August.

A new report from Marketsandmarkets on the managed security services market to 2025 projects the sector to grow from USD 31.6 billion in 2020 to USD 46.4 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period.

The rising instances of security breaches and increasing number of attacks that pose a threat to large and small organisational systems are anticipated to be the major market drivers. The need to adopt necessary steps in advance for securing the overall security posture and technological advancements in cloud and IoT has bolstered potential use cases across verticals.

Managed security services (MSS) are proactive security measures tailored according to the need and ever-evolving security landscape of organisations. These services include continuous monitoring and analysis, advanced technology, network assessment, and application and security specialists to advice stakeholders in organisations. Managed Identity and Access Management (IAM) helps in driving automation, managing consumer identities, and establishing a risk-based approach, among others. Some of the companies are integrating technologies such as robotics with IAM. single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) are the two most common systems used in IAM. Hence, the managed IAM segment is expected to be a larger segment during the forecast perioed.

Fastest growth in healthcare vertical
The banking, financial Services, and insurance (BFSI) vertical is expected to dominate the MSS market with the largest market size, while the healthcare vertical is the fastest-growing vertical during the forecast period. MSS are expected to help the BFSI vertical in keeping the confidentiality of sensitive data, which will, in turn, help in maintaining the overall security posture. The biggest advantage of using MSS in the BFSI vertical is 24/7/365 monitoring, which results in immediate incident response and remediation in case of a security breach. The BFSI vertical is very careful about the security of the sensitive data of its customers. Hence, for enhancing the protection of online services from cyber attacks, companies operating in the BFSI vertical are adopting MSS .

In the healthcare vertical, MSS such as medical device penetration testing, network segmentation for medical equipment, device inventory and risk analysis, and medical device risk assessments will play an integral role in securing entities related to patients as well as hospital data. Moreover, MSS also helps healthcare organisations comply with stringent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliances.

Highest market share in Asia Pacific
Geographically speaking Asia Pacific is predicted to hold the highest market share during the forecast period. Technological advancements such as cloud, 5G, and IoT have led SMEs and large enterprises in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region to largely rely on MSS. Also, stringent government regulations on adopting security measures, cyber security incidents, and cloud technology adoption are driving the adoption of MSS in the region. Major vendors covered by the Marketsandmarkets analysts in the managed security services report include IBM, AT&T, NTT Data, Secureworks, DXC Technology, BT Security, Atos, Infosys, Verizon, Cognizant, Cipher Security, Wipro, Accenture, Optiv Security, Trustwave, The Herjavec Group, Centurylink, Kudelski, and Nuspire.

Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, recently launched the first special production line for face masks at the Bosch plant in Stuttgart-Feuerbach. “Containing coronavirus is a challenge for society as a whole. By equipping our associates with masks we make ourselves, we are helping to relieve the burden on the market. Moreover, we are doing the groundwork that will enable us to safely resume operations and protect our associates,” Denner says.

Following a coordinated ramp-up that will run until the end of June, the company will make over half a million masks a day on five production lines at four locations worldwide. The lines were designed by Bosch’s special-purpose machinery unit. Bosch is making the design plans available to interested companies free of charge. Bosch has already received inquiries from over 30 companies regarding the designs of the special production line.

Bosch designs a production line for face masks
In combination with other hygiene measures, face masks are an effective means of reducing the risk of new Covid-19 infections. Developed by Bosch’s special-purpose machinery unit in just a few weeks, identical, fully automated production lines for face masks are now being set up at several company locations. In addition to the lead plant for Industry 4.0 in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, where two lines are planned, mask production will be ramped up at the Bosch locations in Naganathapura, India, and Juárez, Mexico, in successive weeks. A facility at the Rexroth plant in Erbach, Germany, will round off the manufacturing network. Overall, by the end of June, the production volume of the five lines is set to exceed ten million masks a month.

Relieving supply bottlenecks
The face covering is primarily intended to impede the spread of pathogens from the wearer’s nose and throat. At the same time, the mask acts as a barrier to bodily fluids produced by people in the immediate vicinity. Bosch is manufacturing surgical mask types I and II, which comply with the European DIN EN 14683 standard, and will use them mainly to protect its roughly 400,000 associates worldwide. Bosch wants to make any excess capacity available to third parties, provided there is demand and the masks satisfy country-specific standards.

Furthermore, Bosch is making the designs, technical drawings, and assembly instructions of the lines available to other companies free of charge, as well as information about how the masks are packaged and distributed. “Our special production lines give us greater independence, since masks can be made directly on site, right where they are needed,” Denner says. Bosch’s special-purpose machinery unit offers interested companies expert advice and supplies complete systems on request. “Bosch is responding to coronavirus by developing technology. We are contributing our innovative strength and extensive manufacturing expertise,” says Rolf Najork, the Bosch management board member responsible for industrial technology.