The security week: The president, the chief exec, and the alliance

A momentous week of change and a new mood of global cooperation and alliance – that’s right, SIA chief Mike Wilson has been asked to step down, and Panasonic and Sanyo are looking into joining forces. Oh, and there was some election that happened in the US, too.

We’ve got all the latest on the Security Industry Authority story, where chief executive Mike Wilson has been shown the door after a couple of damaging reports showing security mess-ups within the Regulator itself, as well as the call for improvement from the National Audit Office. Our conference on The Threat Within seems more relevant and important by the day, wouldn’t ya say?

There’s up to the minute detail on the Panasonic and Sanyo ‘alliance’ discussion talks, and Brian Sims and John Honovich look into the potential security industry impact of the Obama presidency.

There are also the first two in a series of reports from the 2008 Skills for Security conference – and we’ll have all the coverage from our Next Generation CCTV conference as well.

The latest Bench Tests are available for your perusal – that’s the VDP20 dome from deView and the NVR-4000 from Plustek.

And in an effort to perk up the spirits of the SIA, this week’s Song About Security comes courtesy of smooth-voiced lotharios Warren G and Nate Dogg. Regulate.

In these economically-challenged times, having a job of employment is one of those things that is not only really great and cool, but also useful. Wonderful security jobs website Jobs for Security is here to help you in your quest to become great and cool and useful. One of the greatest, and coolest jobs available at the moment is our Job of the Week – it’s your chance to become a Training Officer with Advance Security, and it sounds excellent. Excellent!

The security week: Olympic guards and ID cards

[Hello. I’m currently writing this on Wednesday, as I’m about to be away from I4S Towers for a few days, and I will be pretending from here on in that it is Friday.]

Well, what a week it’s been for info4security.com.

There’s been a heck of a lot of security-related news, I can certainly tell you that! Every day, it seems like the majority of stories we cover are related to the field of security in some way. Hopefully this week is not wildly different to any other!

Early in the week we featured Alan Hyder‘s provocative and powerful SI Editor’s View. There was also an interesting article on G4S’s plan to train locals to help with guarding the Olympic Park development.

There were also Bench Tests on a Panasonic dome and a Lilin DVR. Incisive. And useful!

Importantly, the design of the already infamous and hotly debated UK national identity cards was revealed. Contentious.

Later in the week, a whole host of interesting and vital security-related stories occurred. You’ll be able to read some of them by clicking the links below!

I hope you have enjoyed this Weekly Digest, and are looking forward to the weekend like I am! Haha. Seriously, though, I am happy in my work. Here is a video of a man struggling with technology.

Bench tests and biometrics

Today we’ve got a couple of Bench Tests for you to peruse – the Panasonic WV-NF302 network dome and the PDR 6160A DVR from LiLin. They may well be of interest!

We’ve also got the lowdown on a biometric time and attendance system installed at some care homes, as well as details of the first designs of National ID cards to be introduced in the UK. Exciting!

IP people IndigoVision have released some details of their impressive figures – so to speak – and Controlware have installed a system at the St Pancras NCP car park. High tech!

Don’t forget to register for our conferences Next Generation CCTV and The Threat Within, particularly if these topics are of interest to you.

An exciting update: last week I went to a viewing of a new photography exhibition, because that’s the sort of high-octane life I lead. Anyway, the photos are of London, and are very good indeed. In fact, I thought they’d look pretty decent in the offices of any London-based firm. Have a look, if you so desire.

A full hand – and Green Skills

Talk to the hand. That’s the message from Lumidigm and UKB International, who have launched a full hand print scanner for high security verification and access control. Futuristic!

Brian Sims profiles David Greer, CEO of Skills for Security, who looks at the future of education and training in the security sector. Insightful.

And Eugene Kaspersky takes us into the shadowy world of the cybercriminal, a very nasty type worth understanding (if not condoning).

Elsewhere, Alan Hyder talks hooters, Panasonic hit the road in aid of IP, and we go with the people flow, man.

You should attend these conferences: Next Generation CCTV, and The Threat Within. Why? Because they’re super.

The security week: Officer shot, and theft foiled

This week’s top story is the shocking shooting incident that saw a security officer badly injured at Tesco in Tring. Brian Sims covered the incident.

In addition to his Editor’s View, Alan Hyder brought us the heartwarming story of the metal thieves foiled in their attempt to steal some scaffolding; and the out of this world story of motion detectors in space. Intergalactic!

Panasonic’s Claire Millington recently endured the arduous task of going to Beijing to watch the recent Olympic Games. She details this terrible imposition in her exclusive Olympics Diary.

A security concept that involves scanning brainwaves to extract evidence of hidden memories (or something like that)? It’s all part of the Global Security Challenge. We did a story on it this week!

I4S also unveiled the identity of the host for this year’s Security Excellence Awards. Find out who it is by reading this wonderful story.

Pauline Norstrom is worldwide head of marketing for Dedicated Micros (which is part of the AD Group, apparently). She is also chairman of the BSIA’s CCTV section. Now she’s giving a keynote address at the fantastic Next Generation CCTV conference. Top stuff! You should also visit The Threat Within conference, as I am reliably informed it is superb.

To ease you into the weekend, Mr Frankie Valli comes on all stalkerish in this week’s Songs About Security. And for the strong of constitution, here is a video of a parrot swearing quite a lot. Not for kids, and not for those easily offended. But amusing.

Officer shot – and meteors detected

Today we lead with the news of the security officer shot at Tesco in Tring. Brian Sims brings us the latest details on the incident.

And Alan Hyder reports on the latest ingenious use of intelligent video – this time it’s being employed to detect and record images of meteors that disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere. Meteoric!

Alan’s most recent SI Editor’s View has prompted a couple of interesting defences of biometrics. Have a read and see if you agree with our contributors.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympic Games took place in Chinese city Beijing in August. Panasonic’s Claire Millington was there, and today she has graciously allowed us a peek inside her diary for the days that she was there. Exclusive!

Are you a fan of conferences? Do you like conferencing? These are some conferences you should go to. Next Generation CCTV! And The Threat Within! They’re about different elements of the security business, and are guaranteed to be thought provoking and interesting as all get-out.