FEATURE
Making
connections
Peter Jones, founder of Nineteen Group, on
connecting government and the private sector
at the International Security Expo
34
T
he history of the International
Security Expo starts back in 2002,
when Nineteen Group founder Peter
Jones launched the Airport Security Expo in
the wake of 9/11.
He then launched the Counter Terror Expo
in 2009, which was bought by Clarion Events
in 2012, before launching the UK Security
Expo in 2016.
“We rebranded it in 2018 to International
Security Expo to fulfil its objective to become
one of the biggest leading security shows in
the world,” Jones tells EN. “We renamed it
to make it a truly global showcase.”
The show, along with its new co-located
sister show, the International Disaster
Response Expo, filled much of the Grand
Hall and West Hall at Olympia London
at the end of November. It brings in
approximately 70 per cent UK companies and
30 per cent international, with a similar split
in visitors.
“The overall feedback from the event has
been quite overwhelming,” says Jones. “It
was busy and we got the right people. We
got the right people from an international
perspective and also from a quality
perspective; the show is all about government
and end user quality and we were getting
those in their droves.”
The primary focus of the show, he
continues, is to provide opportunities to
connect government with the private sector:
“Tackling terrorism is something that the
government and the agencies can't do on
their own.
"If you look at the pressure that our
January 2019 | exhibitionnews.co.uk
security and intelligence agencies are under
to try and stay on top of the watch list of
suspect targets, it's an overwhelming job.
“What the show has done, especially over
the last few years, is create a greater unity
between government and the private sector.
If we're going to tackle global security
challenges, and tackle that very dynamic and
evolving threat from terrorism, then there
has to be a partnership of government and
industry. That was something very evident at
the show.”
That partnership between the government
and the sector the show serves was clear at
the 2018 event as the International Security
Expo was the chosen location for a live
update on Brexit from security minister
Ben Wallace. The update was filmed live by
various media outlets including the BBC, Sky
News and CNN.
“They're choosing our show as a platform
to promote that, which was a wonderful
endorsement from our government,” adds
Jones. “Britain is a global partner and the
UK is one of the most powerful providers of
security globally. We should absolutely be
embracing every part of the export potential
of that. That's one of the key objectives of
the show.”
The International Security Expo has
historically had quite a singular focus on
counterterrorism, but Jones says the scope of
the show is set to widen in future years.
“Going forward we'll be covering
counterterrorism, serious organised crime,
economic crime, a lot more in cyber – all
still at the very top level. It's all things
security, and I think encompassing all of the
other areas gives us a much wider field of
exhibitors to the show.”
Exhibitors at the International Security
Expo are encouraged to find practical
ways to demonstrate their products and
services. The show includes a drone fly
zone, which gave exhibitors an opportunity
to not only demonstrate drone technology
but also counter-drone capabilities – often
more relevant to the world of counterterror
security.
The show also had the Protecting Urban
Spaces feature – new for 2018 – which, says
Jones, was an attempt to create something a
little bit different for visitors.
“So many shows are aisles and stands and
shell scheme and boxes of kit,” he tells EN.
“What we tried to do – and this has been
an aspiration of government for years – is to
show solutions by building a feature where
you integrate lots of different types of kit
working together in a live environment to
bring security to life.
“We integrated 30 different technologies,
from physical to surveillance to tracking.
We had cameras that could see through
clothing for ceramic knives, all fed back
live to a live operations control room to
show the audience what the operators are
seeing and how we can conduct surveillance
in an urban environment. We also used an
acting company called Crisis Cast to stage
scenarios.
“Why should visitors come to a show and
simply see shell scheme stands and a coffee?
Give them a show! They may be very serious