SIA GovSummit 2018 Tackles Key Issues in School Security, Aerial Drones and More

Leaders in the security industry, government and technology gathered June 27-28 in Washington, D.C., as the Security Industry Association (SIA) hosted its 2018 GovSummit. Each year, SIA GovSummit offers top-quality information sharing and education on security topics affecting federal, state and local agencies. This year’s summit tackled key security and policy issues like moving security services to the cloud, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning for surveillance and the path forward for government and private security regarding the commercial use of aerial drones. Additionally, the event featured a half-day, expanded version of SIA’s popular Secure Schools Roundtable, SIA member visits on Capitol Hill, a networking breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club and presentation of the 2018 Legislator of the Year and Statesman Awards.

Providing keynote remarks at the 2018 GovSummit were Chris Krebs, undersecretary of the National Program and Programs Directorate (NPPD) at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Soraya Correa, DHS’ chief procurement officer. Krebs highlighted DHS’ work to protect federal networks and facilities and critical infrastructure, the threat of nation-state attacks on American democracy through targeting election equipment and spreading false information on social media to sow division and discord and NPPD’s focus on blending physical security and cybersecurity in a holistic, top-down risk management approach.

“Government’s role is to assist in raising the security baseline,” said Krebs.

Correa spoke about DHS’ procurement efforts in support of the department’s strategic vision and interest in inviting creativity and innovation in its contracts with organizations.

“When we understand each other’s business processes, we can do better business together,” Correa said. “We work with industry, associations and more – we want you to do business with us.”

In a panel discussion of the Office of Management and Budget’s new cybersecurity and identity policy, Jeff Nigriny highlighted the Interagency Security Committee’s new instructions to federal chief security officers on physical access control systems implementations being fully compliant with federal security standards. “2018 is the year we fix the policy,” Nigriny said.

In another session, a panel of experts considered the path forward for government and private security when it comes to unmanned aerial system (UAS) and counter-UAS policy. As drones have become more widely used, national security agencies have raised drone security as an important policy issue. “We could call this time the years of drone security,” said Lisa Ellman, partner at Hogan Lovells LLP and Company and co-executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance.

During the summit’s Policy Leadership Awards Dinner, SIA also presented its 2018 Legislator of the Year and Statesman Awards.

The SIA Legislator of the Year Award is presented annually to members of Congress and other elected officials who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in advancing legislation and policies that encourage the effective use of technology solutions to enhance public safety and security and protect critical infrastructure. This year, SIA honored Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) for their work on the STOP School Violence Act, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) for authoring the Investment in New Ventures and Economic Success Today (INVEST) Act, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) for authoring the Secure Airport Spaces Act and Rep. Dan Donovan (R-N.Y.) for authoring the Shielding Public Spaces From Vehicular Terrorism Act.

The Statesman Award is presented each year to SIA member volunteers who have made extraordinary contributions of professional time, leadership and resources to position SIA to address the public policy challenges impacting the security industry. This year’s recipient was Rob Reiter, co-founder of the Storefront Safety Council and chief security consultant at Calpipe Industries, recognized for his leadership on issues related to protective and architectural bollards to address the need for greater perimeter security.

In a half-day Secure Schools Roundtable on Capitol Hill, legislators, academics, emergency services experts and more discussed the need for enhanced school security in the wake of tragedies in schools across the United States, including the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Student Jake Glacer, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, and his father, Noel Glacer, discussed Jake’s experiences on the day of the shooting and the school’s lack of a standard operating procedure for dealing with an active shooter incident.

“We used to live in the Parkland bubble, and now we live under the Parkland cloud,” said Noel.

Jake and Noel emphasized the need for better school security solutions, training and drills and encouraged people interested in contributing to Parkland’s school security to visit sosparkland.org.

“I’m trying to take a bad situation and do good out of it,” said Jake. “If I could save one life by talking about this, it’s worth it.”

Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) and Susan Brooks (R-Ind.) – co-chairs of the Congressional School Safety Caucus – also spoke at the roundtable, highlighting the importance of legislation like the STOP School Violence Act and efforts like research on the causes of gun violence to address this important issue. “Kids should be worried about learning, not whether their schools will be the next to fall victim to tragedy,” said Larsen.

Learn more about the 2018 GovSummit – including the full agenda, key topics and speakers – here. This event was made possible through Washington Sponsor United Technologies (Lenel and Interlogix); Lincoln Sponsor HID Global; Jefferson Sponsor Johnson Controls; dinner and reception sponsor Allegion; event sponsors AMAG Technology, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Ameristar Perimeter Security, ASIS International, Axis Communications, BCDVideo, Calpipe Security Bollards, Chenega Security, Christie Digital Systems, Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency, Gallagher, GSA Schedules, Inc., Hanwha Techwin America, DHS Science & Technology, Identiv, Louroe Electronics, Marshalls, Milestone, Nasatka Security, Panasonic, the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, Renova Technology and the Secure Schools Alliance; media sponsors Campus Safety and DomesticPreparedness.com; and industry partner ISC Security Events.

Thank you to all our sponsors, speakers and attendees for making this year’s GovSummit a success! We hope to see you at next year’s summit.