Richard Jenkins addresses the audience at the NSI Installer Summit last year
On the eve of the fifth NSI Installer Summit, we caught up with Chief Executive Richard Jenkins to find out which subjects and trends will be covered at the 2018 event
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the independence of the National Approval Council for Security Systems (NACOSS) from the Loss Prevention Council (LPC). In 2001 NACOSS joined forces with the Inspectorate of the Security Industry (ISI) to form the body we know of today as the National Security Inspectorate (NSI). The certification organisation has witnessed a changing security industry in its time and today approves over 1800 companies. Five years ago it began a new venture organising an annual event for its approved companies giving them an opportunity to see new technology, to network with their peers and also attend seminars and workshops to help develop their businesses and practices.
The NSI has been running the Summit for the last five years in Birmingham and this year will be its second at the Vox, next to the NEC. According to Richard Jenkins the event is generating considerable interest from exhibitors, with more than 70 expected to be in attendance. The Summit has secured IFSEC International as Summit Partner, BT Redcare, CSL and RISCO Group as Gold Sponsors, with Fermax and Texecom as Silver Sponsors. An enhanced seminar programme is also anticipated to attract a record number of security and fire safety professionals.
“This year we’re broadening the Summit because the security industry is no different from the rest of the world and is being driven by technology and innovation,” he explains. “In the case of CCTV it’s clear that we are seeing a move towards its convergence with other disciplines and there is a breadth of applications for systems that utilise a number of security measures – which means there is much to talk about in 2018.
“For example, whether you are an installer or a security guarding company, a provider of the hardware and/or software, in the police or fire sector, all you know is that the analytics and power of CCTV today is creating a whole convergence of technology that, in turn, is making it more relevant for a much wider community than before. So this year we’re widening the Summit to embrace more of the fire presence and we are inviting our guarding operators, who tell us every time we meet them how they’re integrating CCTV more into their everyday operations.
“So in 2018 it doesn’t really matter which direction you might be coming from because you will be fully aware of the benefits of convergence but may need to find out more about the applications of the technology in your specific field. New this year will be a series of master-class workshops focusing on those areas and also discussing the standards updates including NSI’s Code of Practice for the design, installation and maintenance of CCTV surveillance systems – NCP 104 Issue 3. This will help to drive best practice in terms of delivering functionality to the customer and the wider public who are using the spaces that are being protected by these systems.
“Operability of the system is a key factor in the success of a security system,” says Richard. “Is the technology straightforward to use? As we all know, there have been cases where the system has been too complicated for the user to get the most benefit from it. A system must be fit-for-purpose as no two applications are completely the same. So we developed the Code to take into account this operability.”
Security of security
The security of security systems has always been a topic that has had to be addressed when designing systems and the introduction of networked systems creates another area of vulnerability that must be assessed and risks mitigated.
“There’s nothing in the new NCP 104 that could be deemed to be ‘rocket science’, it is essentially some guidelines for best practice,” says Richard. “The idea of the Summit is to help the NSI in its role of improving the installation, application and use of security systems and the Code has been developed to address this and to raise awareness of the cyber security issues that are very apparent in the industry today.”
Going IP
As Richard explains, the shift to providing networked services continues with the news that BT will be moving to an all-IP model by 2025 and this is something that the industry will need to keep on top of as the change takes place.
Read the full interview in the February 2018 edition of PSI magazine
Register for the NSI Summit here
