Security Essen 2014: Great Success

On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, Security Essen presented itself on its best form: 1,045 exhibitors from around 40 nations showed a large number of innovations for civil security at Messe Essen at the end of September - including worldwide conglomerates such as Bosch, Panasonic, Sony and Siemens.

For the first time, the premier global fair in Essen offered more than 40 market segments: from mechanical and digital security technology via fire protection and video surveillance right up to IT security and counter-terrorism. This comprehensive overview of the market attracted about 40,000 trade visitors from more than 110 countries. "With these very good figures, Security Essen has impressively highlighted that it is the worldwide number one in the sector," was the résumé made by Oliver P. Kuhrt, CEO of Messe Essen. "Together with the global security industry, we are pleased about the unsurpassed quality of the range on offer, internationality and participation."

Security Essen 2014 was spurred on by the good mood in the sector. In Germany alone, the security industry had a turnover of nearly Euro 12 billion in the past year - worldwide, the market volume of the sector is estimated at Euro 120 billion. And the prospects are good: Almost 96 percent of the trade visitors to Messe Essen are expecting the favourable development of the security market to continue. One in three of the visitors indicated that their companies want to invest high six-figure amounts in security technology next year - above all, in solutions for access control, video surveillance and fire protection. Therefore, the majority of the exhibiting companies rated their participation in Security Essen as successful: Furthermore, nearly 88 percent are expecting good post-fair business.

Popular: Solutions for IT Security
In 2014, the top subject of IT security aroused great interest amongst the trade visitors - nearly 83 percent of whom were decision takers. According to estimates made by experts, industrial espionage and cyber crime caused damage amounting to US$ 400 billion worldwide in the past year. In this context, Security Essen offered effective protective measures: from constructional bugging protection via secure IT hardware right up to data protection for mobile terminals. During a joint visit to the fair, the State Secretary at the Federal Chancellery Klaus-Dieter Fritsche, Federal Government Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services, and Dr. Hans-Georg Maaßen, President of the domestic intelligence service of the Federal Republic of Germany, also obtained information about the subject of the protection of the economy.

Visitors' Reactions: Higher Internationality and Great Satisfaction
The significance of Security Essen as the premier global fair was also highlighted by the great international interest. 39 percent of the trade visitors travelled from abroad - a plus of nearly ten percentage points. Moreover, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy used the premier global fair in Essen as the platform in order to continue the bilateral dialogue with China about collaboration in disaster risk management. On the first day of the fair, high-ranking representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic arrived for the conference entitled "Perspectives of German-Chinese Technological Cooperation in Disaster Risk Management". A large number of other countries also dispatched delegations which obtained information about innovations at Security Essen - including Morocco, Norway, the USA and the United Arab Emirates.

Visitors and exhibitors gave top marks to the premier global fair. They praised the range on offer at the fair and the very high quality of the visitors. It was noticeable that one in three of the visitors stayed at the fair for two days or longer this year - a very good value. With a view to 2016, 92 percent of the visitors and 86 percent of the exhibitors indicated that they would be involved in the 22nd Security Essen on September 27 - 30, 2016.

Supporting Programme Offered
The supporting programme at Security Essen also went down outstandingly: Around 100 lectures in the two fair-accompanying Security Forums presented solutions to current challenges in the sector. IT security was an important keyword here as well. Twice a day, visitors were able to experience technical innovations live in the Action Centre. Here, civil flying robots for site surveillance were demonstrated and security films for windows or glazed doors were tested with iron ball bearings, Molotov cocktails and explosion attempts. Spectacular things happened on the Fire Protection Day too: Here, it was possible to experience, amongst other products, fire suppression installations and CAFS fire extinguishing appliances live in use. As the premier global fair, Security Essen also supported the sector with regard to the promotion of the up-and-coming generation: On the Training and Further Education Day, schoolchildren, lateral entrants and students were able to obtain information about training courses and occupational perspectives in the security industry.