NCRB & Chairman – IISSM are lighting the Lamp at the Inaugural function
The 32nd Annual Global Conclave of the International Institute of Security and Safety Management was held on 18th and 19th of November 2022 in a Hybrid Mode. The venue for the physical part of the Conclave was Hotel Crowne Plaza, Okhla, New Delhi. In addition, many speakers and participants joined in the virtual mode. The theme of the Conclave for this year was ‘Security, Safety & Loss Prevention: Enablers for Nation Building.’ The Conclave during its two days had four keynote speakers and four panel discussions on contemporary topics.
The inauguration ceremony commenced with the National Anthem and the traditional lighting of the lamp. S K Sharma extended a hearty welcome to all the guests, speakers, delegates, and other dignitaries for attending the conclave. He appreciated the efforts of the team IISSM for inviting the best of minds across the globe and expressed his best wishes for the grand success of the deliberations which were to be conducted over the next two days.
Thereafter, R K Sinha Former MP (Rajya Sabha) and Executive Chairman – IISSM, gave an insight into the genesis leading to the establishment of IISSM. He enumerated the role of IISSM and thanked the Late K N Prasad, Padma Shri for his guidance in establishing IISSM and seeing it through its primitive years.
He highlighted the following aspects:
- The need to promote growth in as much as to understand the problem and thereafter, find workable solutions.
- IISSM in its last 32 years has trained thousands of professionals and continues to do so to enable professionals benefiting from these Training Programmes to enable them to carry out their job in a better way.
Rajan Medhekar, IPS (Retd.), former DG, NSG and currently the DG, IISSM proposed a vote of thanks, thanking R K Sinha for sparing his valuable time despite a very heavy official schedule to inaugurate IISSM Annual Global Conclave 2022. He also thanked all the dignitaries and delegates for their support.
This was followed by the keynote address by PM Heblikar, Director, Maxgrid Securicor (India) Limited and former Special Secretary, Government of India on the topic ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in Nation Building.’ He highlighted the need for viewing security at a macro level and not through a narrow prism. In addition, the new normal as an outcome of the Corona Virus Pandemic 2019 and the recent Russian-Ukraine war affecting global security. Thereby, highlighting the need for the Private Security Industries to shoulder additional responsibilities for better security, safety, and loss prevention.
This was followed by a Panel discussion on ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in National Growth,” moderated by Shankar Subramnian with 4 eminent panelists. The panel member highlighted that security and safety must lie at the heart of a nation to ensure prosperity. There was a need for involving the citizens in more activities for supporting the Government and other agencies in ensuring a safe and secure ecosystem.
The second keynote address was delivered by DC Pathak (IPS), (Retd); Former Director, Intelligence Bureau on – ‘Understanding Security, Safety and Loss Prevention.” He highlighted that technology should be taken as a force multiplier, since, information needs to be protected. He mentioned that approximately two-third of information breaches were due to the involvement of insiders.
Next was panel discussion on the ‘Role of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in National Growth,’ moderated by Col (Dr.) Inderjit Singh. The panelists highlighted how digital transformation had changed the concept of security, wherein, the army does not have to physically invade countries, thereby, shifting the battlefields down to mobile phones and the virtual arena. It was necessary to analyze and continually review the aspects of technology being used is safe.
The second day of Conclave commenced with the keynote address by Jason L Brown, National Director, Thales, Australia & New Zealand. It was conducted online. Mr. Brown highlighted the strategy that needed to be developed, keeping in mind the relationship that a country is maintaining with the world. In addition, he highlighted the threats that have existed or can come to the fore in the future and the impacts that this would have on the businesses and the business environment.
This was followed by a product presentation by Pushkar Gokhale, VP & Business Head, Godrej Security Solutions. He highlighted how his company was developing solutions in consultation with the customers for example a fogging system to blind burglars had been developed by Godrej Security Solutions to counter the burglary threat.
Next panel discussion on ‘Cyber Security, Robotics and Drones in Security, Safety and Loss Prevention’ was moderated by Dr. MJ Shankar Raman, IIT Madras. The panel highlighted the need to cater to future threats and the technology required to be developed as countermeasures to defeat those threats. In addition, the scope and threats from drones, the use of artificial intelligence, and possible countermeasures were discussed.
Post lunch the conclave commenced with the keynote address by David Cavanagh, Managing Director, Integrated Energy Private Limited and Chief Hydrogen Officer, Hydrogen West, Australia. Some of the aspects highlighted related to how to improve the efficiency in the functioning of smart cities. He highlighted the strategies and technologies required to improve the functioning of smart cities by using the internet of things and artificial intelligence technologies.
The keynote address was followed by the fourth panel, which discussed ‘Management of Security, Safety and Loss Prevention in Smart Cities; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats,’ moderated by Col Sumit Monga, Lenovo. The panelists highlighted that the culture of working in silos needs to be shed and stressed the need for integration of all the systems and services to draw maximum benefits. In addition, the need to balance between the opportunities and threats, viz-a-viz the privacy aspects must be done.
The Valediction Ceremony of the 32nd IISSM Annual Global Conclave was done by R K Sinha who mentioned that the Conclave was conducted in the hybrid mode on an experimental basis. This experiment was found to be successful, since, in addition to the participants who were present physically, lots of participants had joined in the virtual mode. During the last two days, it was very pleasing to note the interaction between the panelists and participants. The question-answer sessions, after all the panel discussions were very interesting and invigorating. He mentioned that despite tremendous leaps made by technology, the human element would continue to stay in the field of security, safety, and loss prevention.
Thereafter, a vote of thanks was proposed by DG-IISSM and the Conclave came to a close with the playing of the National Anthem.
