United States. ASIS International opened its annual global security exchange (GSX) 2019 conference in Chicago on Monday. The event continues through September 12, featuring an extensive program with more than 250 educational sessions, daily keynote speakers and general sessions, and an exhibition floor with more than 550 exhibitors from the security industry.
The fair kicked off with a dynamic presentation of the General Session by Ian Bremmer, Ph.D., the renowned geopolitical expert and author, to an audience of more than 3,000 security professionals from around the world.
Christina Duffey, President of ASIS International, set the tone for the entire conference by stating, "GSX marks the beginning of a reinvented approach to education, exhibitions and networking, combining these aspects into new opportunities and events." Duffey gave an update on partnership governance and the international composition of the new global board, which is designed to capture and reflect the diverse and changing nature of the global security landscape. She continued, "Only ASIS has the experience, global reach and collective power and expertise of its members to convene an event of this magnitude and quality."
Nóirín O'Sullivan, Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security at the United Nations, described the challenges involved with protecting the 180,000 United Nations personnel, and their 400,000 family members, in an environment where national and regional borders are losing some of their importance.
Ian Bremmer, Ph.D., President, Eurasia Group gave Monday's keynote address. "We are in the midst of a geopolitical recession," Dr. Bremmer proclaimed as he began his presentation. He described four key factors that are affecting global perceptions and can stoke conflict and uncertainty, including the decline of the 'social contract' (i.e. fixed wages, scandals involving the privileged class) and the sense that government and employers no longer represent the needs of the people they serve), immigration, wars 'forever' (i.e. the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan) and the role of social media in stoking division and fears.
He also cited news headlines, including the fallout from Brexit, China's global investments in Western democracies and the lack of a "Plan B" in dealing with Iran. "Our assumption has always been that as China gets bigger and richer, they will move to align more closely with our systems and views, or they will fail. But, they're not aligning with us, and they're not failing."
"Game-changing" sessions throughout the day brought together multiple perspectives to capture and explore the latest security topics. For example, a morning session on the ever-changing landscape of drones brought together Joseph Rios, chief engineer of the UAS Traffic Management Project at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Angela Stubblefield, Deputy Deputy Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety and Security, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Michael Rozin, President of Rosen Security Consulting, to provide their unique insights on this rapidly evolving technology platform. The FAA has recorded 5 times more drones (over 1.5 million) in just 4 years, than all commercial aircraft that have been registered so far (300,000) in the agency's history. The dramatic changes in the regulation of the drone industry parallel the growing attention to the safety and security risks they entail.
The rest of the day's educational training focused on a host of relevant global security issues, including workplace violence, emergency operations plans, critical infrastructure resilience, cyber threats facing government, corporations and citizens, women in security, research online and on social media. and so on. For example, a session on cybersecurity included a review of the typical types of cyberattacks and how to protect yourself from them. The rise of 5G networks was a highlight in the session, as presenters noted that while the technology will bring new benefits from interconnected devices, it will also open up new avenues for hackers. "We expect IoT devices to be a prime target of hackers in the coming years," the presenters warned.
20,000 security professionals are expected to attend the four-day event.
