Successful global organisations aim to achieve consistency and standardisation of products and services. Their security programmes need to strive for similar consistency and standardisation to support business units across a variety of environments with a variety of local contexts, cultures and expectations; quality of local labour, means of communicating and enforcing policies to diverse locations; the complexities of achieving standardisation and in a different way unity of purpose; and dealing with the intricacies of organisational alignment, to name but a few. This question will examine the overall approaches needed to manage these (and others) by addressing the following:

What are the main challenges faced in terms of achieving organisational consistency?
Where are the quick wins?
What are the key requirements of a strategy for consistent and good security across territories?

Panellists:
Pallavi Ade – Geopolitics and Security Risk Analyst, Co-Founder of Asian Pathfinders (India)
Melissa Mack –  Director at Witt O’Brien’s (US)
Mike Croll – Global Security Adviser (UK)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/28/the-challenges-of-achieving-consistency-and-standardisation-in-global-security-operations/

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Public sector retirees from law enforcement, intelligence services and the military (for example) have been joining the security sector for as long as it has existed.  However, their impact is debated.  Some consider their involvement as an essential positive while others believe they lack the requisite commercial skill sets for modern day security management.  What is clear is that security is developing, there is a move towards it being more busines focussed. To what extent has this changed the benefits that public sector retirees bring? Is it true that fundamentally security expertise needed for public and private security is much the same? Would private security personnel moving towards public security face problems? To what extent then does the public sector still provide a good or even the best grounding for a security career? To what extent does security specific training and education need to adjust? This webinar will discuss:   

What benefits do public sector retirees bring to the modern security sector?
To what extent is ‘security expertise’ built on public sector security experience and to what extent is this entirely different/the same?
To what extent can training and education build on the good and eradicate any weak aspects of adjusting from public to private?

Panellists:
Peter Harrison – Managing Director at FGH Security Ltd (UK)
J. David Quilter – Author and President at QuilCo, Inc. (US)
J. Kelly Stewart – Managing Director and CEO at Newcastle Consulting LLC (US)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/23/public-sector-retirees-who-then-join-the-security-industry-how-best-can-they-be-integrated-into-modern-security/

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The perception of the competence of frontline officers reflects on how the security sector is perceived.  The language used is important. We have seen on previous webinars that the word ‘guard’ is sometimes used as a pejorative word, outdated and no longer reflecting what people do. The word ‘officer’ though generates confusion as, in some cultures at least, it portrays the work as being of a higher level, and sometimes causes confusion with, for example, police officers. This webinar will examine the following:

What are the drawbacks and benefits of using the words guards/officers?
What are the benefits and barriers to having a global agreement on a single term to describe the work of frontline officers?
Whether using a single term is illusory.

Panellists:
Rollo Davies – Managing Editor at TPSO magazine (UK)
Maj. Mandeep Garewal – Managing Director at Force Tech Security India Pvt Ltd (India)
Charles Oloo – Managing Director of Burton Consortium limited (Kenya)
Mike Reddington – Chief Executive Officer at British Security Industry Association (BSIA) (UK)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/21/what-is-in-a-name-security-officer-or-security-guard/

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In previous webinars we have discussed how the pandemic has increased the visibility of security, in some organisations at least, but that even here there is no certainty that it will have long terms benefits, especially if economic hardship ensues. What is important to understand is precisely how and in what ways security personnel has kept business working. A central theme to this is the extent to which security has shown itself and can show itself to be key to core business activity. In many ways this is something of a Holy Grail, and in theory the pandemic has provided a showcase. This webinar will explore these issues in more depth and specifically:

Why are security professionals in some cases viewed as marginal to core business activity?
Why are security professionals in some cases viewed as central and important to core business activity?
What needs to change going forward to render security professionals more credible from the viewpoint of business?

Panellists:
Samuel Agbanusi – Security Manager at Union Bank of Nigeria
Paul Harvey – Chief Commercial Officer at Ward Security (UK)
Gary Parkes – Group Profit Protection Manager at Matalan (UK)

A video and summary of this session is available here:
https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/16/keeping-businesses-going-how-central-marginal-is-security-to-core-business-activity/

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Criminal investigation has always attracted a somewhat mystical appeal, especially in the private and commercial worlds. On the one hand investigators are seen as being free from the constraints of the law (not least because much of the work is not visible) and on the other a vital resource undertaking key work on some of the most pressing issues facing organisations. In this webinar we will:

- Examine the role of commercial/private investigation, is it thriving or suffering?
- Consider what dangers investigators pose to good corporate governance and potential remedies
- Understand the barriers to a more transparent investigatory environment

Panellists:
Johan du Plooy – Senior Managing Partner at Roarr-Advisory and President at Forensic Crime Lab Pty (South Africa)
Gerald Moor – Chief Executive Officer at Inkerman Private Clients (UK)
Professor Doraval Govender – Professor at University of South Africa
Sebastian Blazkiewicz – Managing Director at Sasma Europe (Poland)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/14/investigation-a-murky-world-or-one-of-hidden-gems/

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Security professionals have long been persuaded that the design of the environment is crucial to making it less attractive to criminals. The concept itself has received much academic and policy support. The question is; is it still relevant? Is it just an over complicated way of saying that physical security is effective? Or are there better theories and approaches which incorporate much more than design which while important, is merely a part of the process? Is it the case that we need to adapt the concept, and the policy, or can we be assured that it is and should remain a central tenant of the approach to security? In this webinar we will:

- Question the usefulness of current definitions of Secured by Design as a concept
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the approach
- Consider its relevance to the mainstream of security practice

Panellists:
Bruce Braes – Head of Security Consulting at Buro Happold (UK)
Greg Howlett – Director at Cox Group Architects and Planners (Australia)
Michael Brooke – Head of Operational Services at Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (UK)
Mark Hainsworth – Director at Cox Group Architects and Planners (Australia)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/09/secured-by-design-an-outdated-concept-or-still-core-to-good-security-practice/

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We are all aware that the move to working from home has been sudden and taken place on a scale few could have imagined. We also know that it has provided challenges for businesses and employees who have had to adapt to new ways of working, with specific implications for online security. But where are we now, some six months or so into the crisis? What have we learnt, what challenges still remain and what are likely to emerge? This webinar will explore the following themes:

How have we adapted to the new reality of remote working?
What security challenges does this continue to pose businesses?
How can businesses support workers operating from home?
Are current technologies and processes fit for purpose?
In what ways will remote networks need to adapt as we move forward?

Panellists:
Tarquin Follis OBE – Vice Chairman at Reliance acsn (UK)
Richard Bach – Director at Kontago (UK)
Sachin Bhatt – Senior Associate at Schillings International LLP (UK)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/07/remote-networks-why-working-from-home-continues-to-test-the-ciso/

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As previous webinars have shown it is a moot point as to whether the good will built up by much of the security sector will be sustained though an economic crisis or when things turn into the new normal. What is clear though is that the sector has been going through a period of change and there are lessons to be learnt. To what extent and in what ways does this apply to the role of the regulator? After all regulators have been shown to be a key reference point for determining how security is perceived. How effective is regulation today in tackling its weaker points? What should regulators be doing and what changes would make sense? What are the main barriers to improved regulation? This webinar will address:

- In what ways, if any, has regulation been shown to be weak?
- What are the main areas that regulation is and should focus on?
- What are the main barriers to better regulation?


Panellists:
Professor Tim Prenzler – Professor in Criminology (Australia)
Dr Peter Stiernstedt, CPP, CISM – Lecturer in Criminology at University of West London (UK)
Jonathan Bresson – Junior Lecturer, Physical Sciences Activities Department, Maine University, Le Mans (France)

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/10/02/thinking-about-the-role-of-regulators-what-is-going-right-and-what-is-going-wrong/

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The Benelux has been one of the most progressive regions in the world for inspiring new thinking in security management; how has it fared during the crisis? There appear to be differences in the approaches taken by the BeNeLux countries so how do these compare now and what can we learn about how security has responded? This new world places an emphasis on being virtual, how geared up have countries been for that? To what extent do the different cultures, geographies and experience of the virus provide a base for a more informed understanding of how to respond better moving forward? In this webinar we will discuss:

What have been the key challenges faced by the BeNeLux during this crisis? How, if at all, have they different between countries?
What, if anything, would be done different knowing what we do now?
What are the key lessons for security in the BeNeLux from now?

Panellists:
Professor Marc Cools – Professor in Criminology at Ghent University
Werner Cooreman – Group Security Director at Solvay
Nele Eykens – Corporate Nuclear Security Operations Manager at ENGIE Electrabel
Rajiv Mathur –  CEO of V4 Security Service Pvt. Ltd. and Regional Advisor for The OSPAs

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/09/30/debating-the-implications-of-covid-19-on-the-future-of-security-in-the-benelux-where-are-the-opportunities-and-the-traps/

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The world has heard about the different approaches to the virus taken across Scandinavia. What is less well publicised, at least outside the region, is what the experience of those working in security has been. What is even more interesting to international observers is what the key lessons have been and will be for those working in security in Scandinavia. In this webinar we will help to fill the void. We will:

• Evaluate experiences of the security sector in different areas
• Understand the key steppingstones to the new normal
• Consider what we can learn for security globally

Panellists:
Peter Claeson - Safety and Security Manager at Scandic Hotels AB
Øyvind Halnes - Communication Manager at Stanley Security AS
Totti Karpela - Director of Peace of Mind Threat Management Ltd

A video and summary of this session is available here: https://www.theospas.com/2020/09/25/the-role-of-security-in-scandinavia-what-are-the-implications-for-security-in-the-new-normal/

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