The countdown to Expo 2020 Dubai has begun and with only 10 months to go before the curtain raises on ‘The World's Greatest Show', Expo organisers have pledged to make visitor safety a top priority at a mega event set to redefine security benchmarks. With the world's eyes due to fall on Dubai for six months starting 20 October 2020, Expo 2020 Dubai will host around 60 live shows averaging more than 15 hours of daily entertainment. As 190 participating countries and an anticipated 25 million visitors ready to descend on the emirate, there is a lot at stake for Dubai and the UAE as it hosts the first World Fair ever to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. The organising committee made its stance on safety and security plain from the offset. "We are looking for cutting-edge innovations and the latest technologies that will support the delivery of a safe and secure World Expo," said an Expo 2020 Dubai spokesperson. And it quickly backed the statement up with a call to small-to-medium enterprises operating in the security sector to help deliver the goal. They were invited to a ‘Meet the Buyer' event to learn more about Expo 2020's security requirements and the opportunities for participation, and to pitch their products and services directly to the Expo Team. And while SMEs were urged to innovate, multinational corporations were encouraged to play a part in ensuring that security would be paramount throughout the event's Dubai South site, which will have one of the world's largest installations of smart building technologies. The regional contingency of Chinese video surveillance giant, Hikvision Middle East, which is now advancing AI-driven and machine learning technologies for super advanced security is also readying to make its presence felt at Expo 2020 Dubai. Its Regional President Binson Xu said the show will set the scene for future security at major events and will headline the entertainment and tourism propositions of the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In advance of Expo 2020 Dubai, Hikvision Middle East will roll-out new technologies at Intersec, the world's leading trade fair for security, safety and fire protection, which runs at Dubai World Trade Centre on Jan. 19-21. With security uppermost on the Expo 2020 infrastructure agenda, an entire segment of the Intersec Future Security Summit, which runs 19 and 20 January alongside the exhibition, has been given over to security in the wake of crowd protection priorities at Expo 2020 Dubai. With a keynote on security and crowd protection at the Expo 2020 Dubai due to be delivered by Colonel Ali Khalifa Al Ghais, the event's Senior Vice President Security, the session has attracted a platform of high-profile speakers to outline steps being taken to ensure the world's greatest show also becomes the world's safest. Eng. Arif Aljanahi, Director of Operations & Security Services of the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA Dubai), will outline SIRA's site-wide security methodology at Expo 2020 while also serving on a panel discussion to highlight inter-team collaboration being undertaken to achieve optimum safety and security at the event. Another panel discussion will examine whether the side-line service industries, including hospitality, retail and travel, are prepared for Expo 2020 Dubai. Delegates will be given insights into the management of visitor inflow and safety, the security implications for their own businesses and the steps they need to take to manage heavy consumer traffic. Key insights will be disclosed by Simon Howse, Director of Global Safety and Security, Marriott International and Nikolaos Gkionis, Group HSE & Security Manager, Meraas Holding, UAE. "Security, success and reputation management go hand-in-hand," explained Andreas Rex, Show Director at Messe Frankfurt Middle East, which organises Intersec. "The lessons of Expo 2020 Dubai can be learned even before the visitors arrive and will make for a solid foundation for neighboring Gulf countries which are increasingly moving into the international events arena." The 22nd edition of Intersec will host more than 1,100 exhibitor from 54 countries, highlighting a comprehensive range of products and services across seven product sections: Commercial Security, Smart Home, Cyber Security, Fire & Rescue, Safety & Health, Homeland Security & Policing and Perimeter & Physical Security. — SG
