In this month of July 2010 we will deliver the Presidency of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Security Association to an illustrious colleague and great professional of Electronic Security for many years, such as Mr. Eduardo Vargas.
In these three periods of work, from July 2007 to date, in which I have had the honor and privilege of being at the head of WINGS we have made important efforts and achieved results.
These are not the merit of any person, but correspond to the will of the WINGS Partners, the selfless work of the members of the Board of Directors, the excellent team of professionals we have, as well as the invaluable teaching and methodological capacity of our body of instructors. To all of them my recognition and gratitude for the support provided in these three years.
Membership
The internal organization of the partners through the WINGS Chapters established in countries such as Mexico and Chile has been uneven. The Mexico Chapter performed well during the period, with a strong rebound in activities and growth in 2009 and so far this year. The Chilean chapter has been working for the last two years on its recomposition to recover its growth and stability. The subsidiary of ALAS Brasil after a strong economic support during the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 during which all the resources generated by the sponsorship of the ISC Brazil Fair were transferred to it in those years, did not manage to take off or grow beyond 30 partners throughout Brazil, self-dissolving in the practice in which there are 2 active partners.
COURSES
The courses, which constitute the main activity of ALAS, were strengthened in 2009 and 2010 with the incorporation of new contents:
-Online Course for Operators of Monitoring Centers.
-Face-to-face Course Project Management.
-Face-to-face Course on Security Systems Integration.
New online courses are being fine-tuned and will be launched in the coming months:
-Smart Cards
-Structured Cabling
The courses taught by country in the reporting periods were:
A program was developed with alas alumni in the different courses with the institutionalization of the PIN -WINGS, which consists of a personalized identification of the courses that students take with their initials and student number in a PIN that they can use as a distinctive of the certification obtained.
Fairs, congresses and exhibitions
WINGS maintained an active participation in already established Security Exhibitions, as well as supporting new events in different countries in order to strengthen both the membership of ALAS in these countries, and the development of the industry in general.
AFSE: held in July in Miami-Beach. It participated in the editions of 2007, 2008 and 2009 and in all those of the previous years.
Expo Seguridad México: actively participated in the editions of 2007, 2008 and 2009 where, in addition to the sponsorship, important conferences and certification courses were successfully developed, as well as parallel activities with the CHAPTER of ALAS Mexico and the consolidation of the Awards in different categories of the industry.
The II International Security Congress was sponsored in the Dominican Republic in 2008, as well as the first one held in 2006.
Expofire 2008 and 2009 held in Guayaquil, Ecuador: The first two editions of this new initiative promoted by WINGS partners in Ecuador were supported and we hope that it will be consolidated in the future.
Security Fair Colombia: With participation in the editions 2007 to 2009, which since this year is celebrated between the cities of Bogotá and Medellín. In 2010 he will participate in the Bogotá edition.
Security Fair of El Salvador: This event was supported in May 2010, with the participation of an ALAS stand and the promotion of the educational offer of the association.
Agreements
As for agreements, the agreement with Exposeguridad Mexico was renewed until 2013.
Agreement with Security Sales Magazine was renewed to continue being the official publication of ALAS.
An agreement was made with Indumedia to make available to WINGS partners information on projects being carried out in Latin America, which constitutes a very important added value for them.
An agreement was signed with the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Security (CASEL) for the participation of WINGS in the 2010 edition of Seguriexpo Intersec, in September.
An agreement was made with Security Fair Colombia, editions of Bogotá and Medellín, to have a participation in the next editions, mainly in the academic part of the Expo.
Institutional development
The internal and institutional development of WINGS was strengthened with the holding of two two-day meetings of Strategic Planning, held in January 2008 and 2010 with the participation of the members of the Board of Directors. In these meetings, the lines of work, action and development of the association were outlined. In this period, the members of the Board of Directors who had already completed their term were replaced and the WINGS work team was consolidated with the restructuring of the small but solid professional team of ALAS, as well as the appointment of the new Executive Director Mr. Alarcón, who was promoted from his previous position of Director of Operations.
Constant communication and regular meetings were maintained between the Board of Directors and the executive structure to monitor and support the goals and activities defined in the annual planning.
He participated in the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Security Industry Association (SIA) in 2008 and 2010, presenting management reports.
Discussions began with the USA Monitoring Association for future training events in this area.
ALAS Management Summit
From the first strategic planning meeting, the Board of Directors considered the importance of WINGS having its own event, even if it did not represent a competition for the fairs, exhibitions and congresses we support.
ALAS has been successfully developing the training of the middle cadres of the companies through the different courses and conferences, in technical aspects. And although in 2010 the Project Management course was introduced, we believe that the General Managers, Owners and Presidents of small, medium and large Security companies in Latin America also deserved a space to discuss their concerns about the problems, and the solutions that each one gives to them. It was also important to provide the opportunity to know and discuss market trends and their evolutions.
Under these premises, and giving us the time and study necessary to develop an event of the level of quality that these assumptions required, is that this next July 2010 the first ALAS MANAGEMENT SUMMIT will be held, which I will have the honor of inaugurating. This way we will be able to share with many of the wings partners and other security colleagues the problems and the search for their solutions to grow and face the crises and problems of the industry.
Projects
Several projects were launched, which must transcend time, so they will continue in a permanent update. These are:
A historical compilation of all the editorials and information that ALAS has made in the Securum Section of the Security Sales magazine was made and which are online for everyone to consult. These documents reflect the evolution that we have been having over the years. Likewise, the internal communication that through the online media Security Zone and ALAS News, have been carried out to keep the membership and the industry in general informed, was consolidated and put online.
The consolidation of the information on the state of the Security industry began with the preparation of the SECURITY WHITE PAPER. This represents a work of constant online updating on the security situation in our continent and has the support of the partners and illustrious professionals of the guild for its update.
The development of the academic curriculum began, the review of the bibliography and the printing of the first manuals of what will be the future INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION OF ELECTRONIC SECURITY (C.I.S.E.) of ALAS, which constitutes the final step after having completed the different courses that ALAS gives and which we hope to have completed by 2011.
Conclusions
In the span of the three periods that we present in this report, the Association has strengthened its finances, its internal institutionalization, its projection towards the security industry. But fundamentally it has served it and, above all, its partners with a permanent concern to raise the level of training and professionalization of all its members. However, the best is yet to come, and I am sure that with the support of all of us, partners of ALAS, we will be able to achieve social recognition of such an important activity and industry as that of SECURITY.
Greetings and thanks to all.
Luis Gonzalez Nogales
President 2007-2010
Latin American Security Association.
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