Pankaj Jain
Sr. Group Director & Digital Head, Informa Markets
We spoke to Pankaj Jain, Sr. Group Director & Digital Head, Informa Markets in India to understand the new initiatives for IFSEC India Expo, new pavilions and exhibition showcases this year, the IFSEC India Awards and the conference for CSOs to be held in parallel at the venue.
The 15th edition of IFSEC India Expo this year promises to be the biggest ever in terms of both technology showcase and end-user participation
SecurityLinkIndia: The 15th edition of IFSEC India Expo is scheduled to be held from Dec 1st – 3rd this year at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. How enthusiastic you are about this edition?
Pankaj Jain: The physical expos have returned with a bang this year post the decline in COVID-19 infections globally. This is the trend with international shows as well and this is what we have experienced in our previously concluded shows across industry verticals organised this year. IFSEC India in the last 14 editions has majorly been held at Pragati Maidan and last year we organized it in the swanky new Hall 5. This year for the 15th edition we are once again pleased to be back in Hall 5 which provides all new, modern facilities and easy access for both exhibitors and visitors. There is a renewed enthusiasm among all stake holders to come together in big numbers and we are making all arrangements for their confluence at the venue. Some of the big brands that have confirmed their participation till date include Prama, Hikvision, ZKTeco, Godrej, Matrix Comsec, TVT, Mantra, Globus Infocom, MARKON, TimeWatch and TrueView. I have no doubt that this 15th edition of IFSEC India Expo is going to be the biggest ever security expo in the entire South Asian region.
SLI: What new initiatives should we expect at IFSEC India Expo 2022?
PJ: Each year IFSEC India showcases cutting edge products and solutions such as CCTVs, video surveillance, biometrics & RFID, access control, AI, IoT, Safe Cities, information security, GPS systems, video analytics, and intelligent building systems. While we continue to exhibit these solutions in ever greater numbers, there is growing interest among the Commercial Security professionals about Drones and UAVs, so we will have special focus and attractive packages for the Drones and UAVs community. Home and Building Automation is another segment which has gained increasing interest among urban dwellers and architects as well as in the commercial space, where some of these technologies are being used for Building Management Systems. We welcome these communities to be part of the biggest security congregation and experience the best in the world of technology.
Also, we would organize a hosted buyer program for CSOs as part of the IFSEC India Expo. This would enable a direct contact between the key vendors of security solutions and CSOs of very large organisations to help each other understand the security challenges and solutions available to mitigate those better.
SLI: What makes IFSEC India the No. 1 security show held in the South Asian region?
PJ: Being part of the IFSEC Global portfolio which includes shows such IFSEC International UK, FIREX International, IFSEC Philippines, IFSEC Bangladesh, IFSEC South-East Asia and SECON; IFSEC India not only draws on the expertise of these blockbuster security shows from across the globe but also builds on its connects with all key stakeholders and experts within the global security community. On the regional front, IFSEC India over the last 14 years has brought the community together through roadshows, hosted programs and conferences in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. On the digital front, IFSEC eConnect, the fortnightly newsletter has in the past five years brought the community together through interviews with brand owners, key influencers and CSOs. The newsletter also highlights the latest product launches & Industry news.
SLI: Tell us about the IFSEC India Awards which are back this year after a COVID-19 induced hiatus of two years.
PJ: IFSEC India Awards is a unique initiative intended to recognize industry end-users who implement path-breaking security solutions across various industry verticals. This year, in the fifth edition of the Awards, we will be soliciting nominations from Security Heads, entrepreneurs & companies who have continuously helped build awareness around security solutions, implemented new ideas, and created a robust security system for their organisations. IFSEC India Awards provides them an industry-acclaimed platform to showcase their finesse in the implementation of best security practices. To give you an idea of the scale of the awards, we received 219 nominations in the last edition in 2019 and aim to surpass this number for this year’s awards. The pre-jury advisory meet to deliberate on the various categories has already been held virtually on 25th July wherein valuable inputs were assimilated from key influencers and veterans in the security fraternity. The final jury meet to select the winners will be held during the month of November. Ernst & Young (E&Y) are once again the process advisors for these awards and the winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony on 1st December 2022 at the Hotel Lalit in New Delhi. To increase our outreach, we are also going to telecast the ceremony on CNBC-TV18.
SLI: IFSEC India Expo also has a colocated conference that witnesses participation from CSOs from across industry verticals in large numbers each year. What value the security fraternity can draw from their deliberations?
PJ: The world is increasingly moving towards an era of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in security and surveillance systems. Deep Learning takes it a step further with by enabling even more powerful analytics to recognise suspicious activity without much human supervision. So, as ICT gets tightly embedded into security and surveillance systems, the conference dwells on the new-age security challenges faced by large organisations, the changing role of the CSO in light of technological advances, the need for CSOs to keep themselves abreast with the latest technology, as well as case studies that showcase the benefits they are drawing through the use of technology within their security infrastructure. The Expo floor provides a ready-made platform to demonstrate all such technology as part of live setups created by the various solution providers.
