SEN Weekly Wrap 008 – Tenders, appointments, jobs and the latest newsy bits abound in SEN Weekly Wrap!

SEN Weekly Wrap 008 – With an hour or so before it’s time to join the queue around the block to pick up the kid, it’s not going to be easy to compress the week’s events with great delicacy.

Regardless, this column is meant to be a bit messy, so let’s just hoe in. Quality tenders continue to come in 2024 – this is uncommon. Again, some of these opportunities are things we’ve been waiting on for years, like the WHT CCTV solution. But there are plenty of other random things popping up across ANZ and it’s nice to see.

Tenders include things like CSL Seqirus Banksia Biotech lab being built in Melbourne. This facility will be the only cell-based influenza vaccine manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere and will produce antivenom for Australian snakes, spiders and marine stingers, as well as being the world’s only human vaccine for Q-Fever. We don’t know what Q-Fever is, but it sounds like it needs to be kept under very tight security.

The Big Rivers Region in NT needs security, duress and PA monthly checks, Port Phillip Council needs electronic security expansion and upgrade of access control and CCTV, while Perth’s Marine Safety Waterways Camera System hasn’t closed.

There’s a big TasPorts security services tender, City of Belmont in Perth needs access control, alarms and monitoring and in South Australia the Department for Infrastructure and Transport in undertaking a CCTV camera replacement.

There are a bunch of schools doing security and fire upgrades in NZ, and Hamilton Council needs security and access control maintenance.

SEN Weekly Wrap 008 – Tenders, Appointments, Jobs, News

Something else that stuck out this week was the number of appointments we received from companies in manufacturing distribution and integration, including Gallagher, Optic Security, Permaconn, Dahua and GSA. Appointments – even internal appointments as people move up – are a good sign that suggest there’s underlying positive future feeling in the market. There are plenty of security management positions on offer, and our integrator contacts say finding good staff remains impossible and there’s ongoing wage pressure.

Interesting things going on – DAS has announced a partnership with Aussie safety solutions provider, Duress. This is an interesting solution suite for DAS installers and integrators to take to their existing client bases – tags, apps, even a finger ring. The Duress range looks nice, and the functionality is more impressive still.

Dicker Data Access and Surveillance (DAS) has announced a partnership with safety technology provider, Duress, for its safety and security solutions for lone, essential, and front line workers.

Founded in Australia by Trav Heaven in 2016, Duress has been dedicated to leveraging technology to protect individuals, starting with domestic violence victims in Australia.

Since then Duress has developed cutting-edge safety devices like Phoenix, Falcon, and Eagle, which offer advanced features such as live video streaming, AI capabilities, and real-time location tracking, revolutionising personal safety solutions.

Duress’s commitment to safety is evident in their extensive clientele, which includes major corporations like McDonald’s and Coles. With over 20,000 teams relying on Duress for their safety, the company continues to lead the industry with its innovative products and unwavering mission.

“The partnership between Duress and Dicker Data (DAS) unlocks a ground-breaking opportunity for DAS customers and stakeholders,” said Gavin Scholes, director of strategic partnerships at Duress.

Staying with Dicker DAS, the company has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to assist customers to embrace AI solutions using a system called AI Compass that helps them identify areas AI can assist enhance efficiencies. It’s a statement of intent that indicates where management sees a potential business case and that’s interesting for installers, integrators, suppliers and other distributors.

BGW Technologies has a 40 per cent off deal to upgrade end of life Milestone VMS software which runs until June 30. Products eligible for the upgrade offer include Express to Express Plus, Professional to Professional Plus, Enterprise to Professional Plus, Expert or Corporate – contact your local branch for more information on this one.

Tenders, appointments, jobs and the latest newsy bits abound in SEN Weekly Wrap!

NZ’s privacy watchdog has announced there will be tougher regulation covering biometrics and AI technology, including facial recognition technology – the regulations may even be backed up with legislation. We can’t help feeling no matter how hard retailers try to do the right thing this technology is likely to get 1 arm tied behind its back.

NZ’s Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster has promised to publish a draft biometrics code after completing an investigation into the use of face recognition to combat crime by supermarket chain, Foodstuffs. The procedure, strategies and reporting of Foodstuffs, as well as the results of the investigation, are going to be of significant interest to businesses in Australia, too.

Meanwhile, BST Australia has partnered with ASI Electrics and Built to deliver an integrated security solution incorporating Inner Range access control, Axis cameras, 2N intercoms and Milestone software to the recently completed Festival Tower in Adelaide.

In other news, the NSW state government has scrapped plans to require government departments to dedicate 30 per cent of their ICT spend to small businesses with fewer than 200 staff. The plan would have boxed a spend of $A750 million annually, making it a seriously big deal for small providers.

New Zealand OSPA Award Winners 2024 Are:

• Outstanding Contract Security Manager/Director – Isaac Taingahue – Optic Security Group
• Outstanding Security Team – Facility Security Officer Team – Beca
• Outstanding Contract Security Company (Guarding) – FIRST Security
• Outstanding Security Consultant – Lee Ashton – Optic Security Group
• Outstanding Security Installer/Integrator – Risu Sharma – Evotek Technologies
• Outstanding Security Officer – Lositoa Moala – FIRST Security
• Outstanding New Security Product – Controller 7000 (C7000) – Gallagher Security
• Outstanding Female Security Professional – Jemima Briggs – FIRST Security
• Outstanding Young Security Professional – Pascale Howell – Gallagher
• Lifetime Achievement – Brian Switalla.

Last, but not least, ISC West in Las Vegas is an interesting study when it comes to product trends. We always pay attention to the sorts of products manufacturers put up for best in show – it gives a handle on ‘trends in production’.

We’ve met some of the contenders before, including Gallagher’s new Controller 7000 access control platform, but there are also some interesting new products and technologies to be found this year. Some are IT and network focused but the best are interesting bites into lateral markets, or a fusion of multiple detection technologies with AI and flexi-comms.

SEN Weekly Wrap 008 – Tenders, Appointments, Jobs, News

In no order these include the dormakaba Axessor Apexx IP Safe Lock, RaptorVision event-based product solution, Visidon Video Noise reduction for real-time low-light enhancements, Actuate Camera Health Monitoring system, the Avigilon Decision Management System and the Bosch Gun Detection System and security and safety systems.

There’s also Control ID iDFace from ASSA ABLOY, the CyberLock NFC Padlock, the DEN Smart Strike for residential and small commercial applications and another ASSA solution, Centrios, an app-based access control system for SMEs combines wireless hardware with local networks for management and reporting.

Then there’s Commend’s Trusted Voice Technology – we’re reaching here but Commend id8 is a pro control desk that facilitates control of an operation with a single touch – so perhaps this new solution offers voice control of an integrated command centre, which would be pretty cool, if full functionality was retained.

Another product of interest here is Senstar’s Multi-Sensor, which combines radar, dual PIRs, high frequency vibration and an accelerometer with video surveillance and AI. This detection solution has a very high detection probability and eliminates nearly 100 per cent of nuisance alarms, which in high security applications is what cutting edge security technology should be all about.

And if anyone was wondering what the future of an integrated electronic security, IT and telecoms industry might be, Wavelynx Technologies’ Corporate Badge in Google Wallet offers the disconcerting glimpse of a future in which the gravity of digital giants sucks security into a black hole from which no recurring revenue escapes…

You can find out more about ASSA ABLOY Centrios here or read more SEN news here.

“Tenders, appointments, jobs and the latest newsy bits abound in SEN Weekly Wrap!”