Intersec 2023: Review

When the organizers drew the curtains on the 2023 show, they were very happy with the outcome and thanked government supporters, sponsors, partners, exhibitors and visitors for their support for one of the most successful gatherings of the security industry in this region.

The show started January 17th with Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Council for Border Crossing Points Security, opening Intersec 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. He toured the exhibition, which spanned 10 halls at DWTC, accompanied by Helal Saeed Al Marri, Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy & Tourism. Sheikh Mansour visited the Dubai Police stand where he was briefed on the force’s latest public safety solutions.
As part of the tour, Sheikh Mansoor was also briefed by executives from Saudi Arabia’s National Security Services Company (SAFE) on the latest initiatives to elevate the standards and image of the Kingdom’s security sector. He also visited the Dubai Civil Defence stand, as well as the German and UK pavilions and Naffco, the Dubai-based leader in manufacturing firefighting products.
During the opening day, delegates got to hear first-hand about some of the safety lessons of the recent Qatar World Cup 2022, in a lively session with Helmut Spahn, Director of Safety, Security and Access at FIFA.
Special features during the show included the Attack Zone, hosted by the Loss Prevention Certification Board, where exhibitors could test their products in live-action demonstrations. In the Start Smart Zone, start-ups connected with decision-makers, buyers, and investors while the purpose-built Future Defenders Hack Arena was a hive of activity for futurist cybersecurity teams from schools, universities and CISOs competing for prizes and industry recognition.
Key highlights for day two of the Intersec Conference included a keynote session from Dr. Bushra Al Blooshi, Head of Research & Innovation at Dubai Electronic Security Center, titled ‘Pioneering Digital Economy: Integrated & Innovative Smart Secured Services Ecosystem'; and a session on ‘The Present and Future of Hybrid Cyber Warfare’ with Sultan Al-Owais, Digital Lead at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Intersec Awards 2023

The winners of the Intersec Awards 2023 were announced during a gala dinner event at the Ritz Carlton. Among the winners were Dubai Police, UAE-based Atos and Protec Fire Detection from the UK, as well as individuals from Aman Security Training and Naffco.
The Awards, which recognise the people, products and companies for exceptional performance in the fire, safety and security industries across ten categories, attracted almost 1300 entries. The People categories reward those who challenge industry standards, are exceptionally skilled at inspiring transformation and bringing about substantial change, and who have achieved great success as industry experts in their particular field.
The award for Outstanding Commitment to the Industry went to Adil Abdel-Hadi of Aman Security Training, for proactively raising the professionalism of the security industry throughout the Middle East and Africa. One way in which he achieved this was by introducing City & Guilds accredited training courses for both the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA) and the Dubai Police Academy, which have benefited over 200,000 vocational students.
Other winners in the People category included Les Allan, Chairman of the Association of University Chief Security Officers, who was named International Leader of the Year; while Khalid Al Khatib, CEO of Naffco was selected as Regional Leader of the Year and Essa Ahmed Al-Mutawa of Dubai Civil Defence has been hailed as a rising star, receiving the Young Emirati Achiever Award. Al-Mutawa said, “I feel extremely honoured to receive the award. It will help me try to think positively and to give more to my work and company,” and paid tribute to Intersec 2023.
Homeland Security Product of the Year went to D-Fend Solutions for its EnforceAir counter-drone technology, while Optex Redscan pro Lidar series from Optex Europe won Commercial and Perimeter Security Product of the Year. Secure Logiq was recognised for its efforts in offsetting the carbon of the electronic security manufacturing sector with the trophy for Security Sustainability Service of the year and the award for Cybersecurity Service of the Year went to Atos for the AI platform powered managed detection and response services – Alsaac.
Fire and Safety Sustainability Product of the Year recognised the Eco Land and Eco Sea products from Detectionloop; and Fire Product of the Year was presented to Protec Cirrus Hybrid Aspirating Fire and Smoke Detector from Protec Fire Detection. Data-analytics platform channel, designed to help organisations create meaningful wellbeing and psychological safety strategies won Safety Product of the Year, while a special award for Excellence in Community Service and Wellbeing was presented to Dubai Police for its Lost and Found service that takes advantage of artificial intelligence and digital technologies.
“Security, safety and fire protection play a vital role in the world, and the stars of the industries deserve to be celebrated,” said Alex Nicholl, show director at Messe Frankfurt Middle East. He continued, “The calibre of entries for the Intersec Awards this year was incredible, demonstrating the commitment and innovation of people and companies to driving advancement across the board. It is an honour to reward and celebrate these achievements and I send my congratulations to all of our winners.”

GIT Take-Aways From Intersec 2023

For the GIT SECURITY team, Intersec 2023 was the perfect occasion to get an overview about what is going on in the industry, to talk to our partners and understand the trends in security and fire safety. We recognized that by the morning of the first day, the show was crowded and there were vivid discussions at the stands. The high level of attendance did not stop until the end of the show on Thursday afternoon.
We had the impression that there were fewer side events during the show time and in the evenings and that the exhibitor party, organised during previous Intersec shows, was missed by many. Nevertheless, the overall summary of the exhibitors was very positive. Intersec in Dubai is back on track to become a truly international show and steps up in the ranking of the most important shows in the EMEA region.

Impressive Growth in Saudi Arabia

During Intersec, Saudi Arabia’s National Security Services Company showed the latest initiatives to elevate the standards and image of the Kingdom’s security sector. The country is opening up and is looking for international cooperations. This goes in line with the impressive economic growth, which is fueling the growth of the whole Middle East region. The Kingdom witnessed the highest value of project awards in 2022, demonstrating its commitment to driving economic diversification and transforming the country in line with its Vision 2030. Many of the vendors present at Intersec spoke of a high visitor attendance from Saudi Arabia and a strong demand for their products and solutions there. Just one number to show the dynamic of the market: In the second half of 2022, 13,000 hotel keys were delivered in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Makkah, accentuating the continuation of the Kingdom’s hospitality sector development.

Integration is King

In previous years, one could get the impression that the focus on integration was forced by the end user, so vendors had to be open and integrate third party components into their offerings. Our discussions with several vendors and the display of so many integrated solutions at the stands in Dubai show that the need for more and deeper system integration is now well accepted and more and more vendors take this message to heart.
Others recognize the limitations of their service and know that they cannot offer best of breed products in every single application and vertical business. These vendors open their products for integration with partners and develop interfaces and SDKs. Telling the customer that a solution can only be provided at the highest level when partners contribute to the solutions and that they are really needed, is not seen as a weakness anymore but as a sign that these vendors understood the message from the market.

Global Cooperations (or Not)

We noted above how important the integration of security products from different vendors into security systems is and how the trend towards integration is welcomed by the industry. During Intersec, behind the scenes there was a lively discussion on how the relationship of big market players, especially software companies, with Chinese manufacturers will influence the market and how this will affect the openness towards integration.
The discussion has become more heated since the US government, through the Federal Communications Commission, has banned the sale of equipment from Chinese telecommunications and video surveillance vendors in the US due to “unacceptable risks to national security”.
The option to ban Chinese technology from projects and integration due to cyber risks was the elephant in the room at the Dubai show. Initiatives in this direction are understandable on the one hand, but on the other hand, there are so many electronic components and OEM devices from China built into today’s network systems that it is legitimate to ask whether banning individual components or product groups would increase security. In the Middle East there are several government and public authority projects with strict due diligence measurements where equipment from Chinese manufacturers is implemented. Not only here, software manufacturers, like VMS and PSIM vendors, and integrators face the dilemma of either acting strictly, possibly losing projects and limiting integrations, or accepting risks.

Saving Energy Is Finally Being Taken Seriously

When one takes a look at initiatives for energy saving in countries that are so rich in energy like the VAE, the question is: Are these initiatives a kind of greenwashing and not the real deal? Talking to several industry experts, we were proven wrong in my assumption. All across the Middle East, the pressure on building and business operators grows to not only work on energy savings but to prove that they really have achieved them. This is quite impressive and it looks like engineers fight for every watt that can be saved. If an IP loudspeaker consumes 12 watts instead of 18 watts, this is not something that is found on page 20 of the product description, but was advertised on displays at the show.

Mobile Access, Mobile Access and Mobile Access

Talking to the access control manufactures at the show, one could get the impression that there is only one topic on their minds: mobile access, the trend to implement mobile phones as authentication devices in access control systems. There are so many secure systems on the market now, that the only factor that still slows down growth in this area is the acceptance by some end user groups.

The Cloud

Do we need to mention that cloud services are on the rise? Sure, this is a hot topic not only in the industry, but we were really surprised at how many different systems were displayed in Dubai and how user-friendly the services are. For end-users and the distribution chain it is good to hear that vendors and service providers who offer cloud solutions are not pushing you in one direction. Hybrid models, where you can work with on-site data storage at one location and with a cloud service at another, are nothing special anymore. Users can enjoy the freedom of choice.

Next Edition 2024

For those of you who missed the show and are considering visiting Intersec in 2024: The organizers have announced the date for the next issue. The silver jubilee of Intersec will take place from 16 - 18 January 2024 in Dubai.