Information Overload

Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM

           

Users and suppliers were bombarded with information about all aspects of the security industry at the Corporate Security Roundtable 2004, Feb. 1-3 in Miami. Some 24 breakout sessions covered topics from workplace violence to business continuity, from employee screening to executive protection.

On the subject of using security to drive business profitability, James Callahan, security director of Digex, offered the following: “Security departments need to continue to be center stage in helping to engender trust in customers.” One approach is to stay on top of innovations by following trends in the security industry and applying them as necessary. Security professionals should also stay abreast of and conversant in local, national and international issues of concern to current or potential customers.

The regulatory impact of recent government initiatives was covered by consultant Robert Hayes, CPP, CFE, of Corporate Security & Integrity Solutions Inc., and former director of corporate security for Georgia Pacific. He provided attendees a complex matrix of U.S. executive orders, laws/acts, international pacts and state regulations that impact the practice of security. From the U.S. Patriot Act to the regulations from the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Customs, security professionals are seeing their companies bombarded with a barrage of new requirements related to security and they may be called upon to respond. Overarching trends include so-called supply chain security, regulatory security requirements including DOT hazardous material transport and the Chemical Security Act; and influence of industry associations.

A big part of the program was high-level, detailed presentations from users about how they have incorporated technology into their companies' security plans.

For example, Richard Robert, security manager of the Chelan County, Wash., Public Utility District, covered security efforts at the nation's second largest non-federal, publicly owned hydro-generating system. With a goal of increasing workplace safety and ensuring security of the district's hydro plants, Robert sought an enterprise-class security system that is able to scale to a virtually unlimited number of client workstations on the network. The system involves seven sites, 13 buildings, more than 250 monitored points, and 151 readers. It uses two Velocity servers and five Velocity workstations from Hirsch Electronics.

Steve Pickett, director of security at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, and William Ryman, PE, senior vice president of EDI Ltd., gave a joint presentation about the Dallas hospital, which currently has 348 beds, but is involved in a growth plan that will provide 406 beds by 2010. They described the design and development phases, involvement of various contractors and the process of finding a security vendor. Although many infrastructure contractors are managed by the general contractor, it is important that the user stay directly involved in security decisions, according to Pickett.

The state of New Jersey has the “largest smart card system in the northern hemisphere,” according to a joint presentation by Jeffrey Rechtsteiner, security systems administrator, New Jersey Division of Property Management and Construction, and Jerry Cordasco of Compass Technologies. The system currently protects 560 buildings — including leased and state-owned facilities throughout the state. Five different systems by Compass are used, with one system serving 48 different buildings. There are also more than 40,000 card holders and 1,000 access levels. The systems handle more than 500,000 transactions per day. The so-called Access New Jersey project included migration to smart cards initiated by the Treasury Department and aimed at reducing the number of cards carried by staff and couriers. The Amerisys smart card readers use contactless MiFare technology.

Next year's Corporate Security Roundtable will be held Feb. 6-8, 2005, in San Diego.

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