Counter Terror Expo at Olympia,
London 19-20 April 2011
The Counter Terror Expo at Olympia in London was a global gathering of industry specialists and professionals who are tackling increasing threats to global security. A huge variety of technology was on display from reinforced specialist rugged cases to protect equipment in hostile environments from impact, moisture, dust, sand to an array of the latest ground-breaking technology from cutting edge facial recognition systems and body scanners to fibre optic audio surveillance and visibility enhancement equipment. Integrated security provision seemed to be an increasing market with those stands that provided total solutions to security generating a great deal of interest. Intriguingly canine detection and security, behavioural pattern evaluation and intelligence skills also seemed to be holding their own alongside up- to-the-minute and ingenious technical innovations. Energy security featured prominently with a number of exhibitors targeting directly at key installations, infrastructure and the perimeter and pipeline security market, with continuity of supply being a key motivation. Cyber security was also prominent with some major players spotlighting the need for investment in this area. Various chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear and explosives planning, detection and protection systems were also on offer. It was refreshing to see that so-called green technology has been utilised by some manufacturers to produce impact and blast resilient physical protection. Inevitably disaster planning services and threat response providers were much in evidence. Interestingly as a sign of the times, design that inspires confidence without creating a fortress mentality seemed much in demand with a clear market delineated for the future.
With the IED threat continuing to pose great danger to soldiers and civilians alike in conflict zones such as Afghanistan it was inspirational to see demonstrations of a range of robots which have commercial utility as well as the very important job of contributing to IED disposal. Some of the lighter, highly mobile robots with dextrous arms are clearly going to be very useful in the future. Some have been deployed to deal with the delicate job of dealing with the Fukushima nuclear station, and have proved their worth multifold in civilian as well as military application.
Overall the Counter Terror Expo was an inspirational display of the sophistication of the global response to increasing threats around the world, and an opportunity for those engaged in combating terrorism to develop new ideas to inform their strategies.
Alexandrite Ltd
