What’s New for Members in Early 2021

Dear SIA members,

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the holiday season. The Security Industry Association (SIA) is kicking off 2021 with a variety of new initiatives; here are some things to look forward to this year.

SIA is launching the new Identity and Biometric Technology Advisory Board (IBTAB) this month following the recent addition of Identification Technology Association members, including CLEAR, Leidos and SAIC, to the association. The IBTAB will guide the development of several initiatives, including a series of virtual and/or in-person networking roundtables with government officials, periodic SIA-led official meetings with policymakers and key agency procurement officials, educational content developed by SIA and involvement with SIA standards activities. Get to know a few key IBTAB members here.

SIA is helping the security industry stay socially distanced and virtually engaged this year with the SIAThere! Virtual Networking Series of monthly networking events. This series will help you meet new people, build business connections and network virtually with like-minded security professionals. SIAThere! events are open to SIA members, companies that want to learn about the industry, security practitioners and more. Our first virtual SIAThere! is coming up Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 4 p.m. EST; learn more and RSVP here.

Next, SIA is preparing to launch SIAcademy LIVE! this March. SIAcademy LIVE! is a new subscription e-learning series to help you grow your business and technical know-how. This series of instructor-led online programs will cover essential topics like how to do business with government and optimizing challenges with your integration business and cybersecurity for physical security professionals, and even technical training on video and access control systems. SIAcademy LIVE! programs will also be available as on-demand recordings following each session.

On March 9, SIA will host the first-ever Thrive! The Business Growth Experience. This interactive virtual conference is designed for startups and any business that wants to jump-start its growth. Thrive! will highlight how to make your breakthrough happen and chart your course in a changed world. Discussion topics include building a company culture of innovation, key 2021 economic indicators, startup paths to success and more.

Coming later this spring is SIA’s new Vertical Insights series of virtual events, presented in partnership with some key publications in the security industry. The Vertical Insights series will bring together security practitioners and integrators to dive deep into key vertical markets and explore emerging security concerns and the opportunities and applications for security solutions within these sectors. The first Vertical Insights event will be held April 15 and highlight the health care sector; the second session will take place June 24 and focus on K-12 education.

SIA has recognized the clear need within the industry for a cybersecurity certification for physical security professionals and is developing a new certification program that will launch this summer. This cybersecurity certification will cover fundamental knowledge on the cybersecurity of networks and Internet of Things devices and is designed to help professionals in our industry meet customers’ needs.

Our SIA Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) program has really taken off in the last year with the launch of SIA OSDP Verified, a comprehensive testing program that validates device conformance to the SIA OSDP standard. We’re seeing more adoption of SIA OSDP with major companies currently going through the process of becoming OSDP Verified. we’re seeing more adoption of that with major companies currently going through it. We’re also bringing back the popular OSDP Boot Camp series virtually to help your teams get the training they need to implement this standard. OSDP Boot Camp virtual courses provide hands-on knowledge of how to design, specify and configure SIA OSDP systems.

Finally, save the date for The Advance, SIA’s annual membership meeting, taking place virtually on March 23.

At this special virtual event, we’ll review official association business, recognize volunteer achievements for the past year and exchange market intelligence for the year ahead. Register now!