Expanded Workshop Programme

Reflecting concern expressed about the ability of the transport sector to thwart another major attack against principle assets, the workshop seminar programme identifies the key threats in each arena and presents a range of answers to them.

Transport Security Expo unveils an expanded workshop programme

In its 10th anniversary year Transport Security Expo, the industry leading annual gathering of security professionals within the industry, recently unveiled an expanded workshop programme for its forthcoming event. These knowledge centric seminars deliver a rich source of detailed information presented by leading industry experts and the programme has been expanded by popular demand.

Reflecting concern expressed about the ability of the transport sector to thwart another major attack against principle assets, the workshop seminar programme identifies the key threats in each arena and presents a range of answers to them.

Within the context of the aviation, maritime, public transport and supply chain sectors, six workshops will thus focus on passenger screening, freight and cargo security, terminal and facilities protection, perimeter security & hostile vehicle mitigation, shipping protection and rail security.

These workshop sessions will be chaired by Ian Taylor, Editor, Cargo Security International; Chris Yates, Principal, Yates Consulting, Graham le Fevre, Former Head of Security, British Army, Graham Basset, UK Vice Chairman, Operation ASIS, Steven Jones, Maritime Director, SAMI and Roy Cooper, Publisher, Professional Security Magazine.

Transport Security Expo conducts extensive research and engages in widespread outreach annually, to aid in understanding the needs of the industry it serves.

This activity reveals the following key points:

• With the demand for air travel increasing, airports must innovate to ensure an appropriate balance between the competing needs of utmost security, greater revenue generation and an improved passenger experience.
• The threat trajectory is evolving and the probability of attacks against terminals and supporting facilities is considered a persistent threat with no easy solution.
• The freight and cargo channel remains an extremely vulnerable avenue of attack, particularly from a new generation of devices that are difficult to detect by normal screening methods.
• Painful history demonstrates a pressing requirement to combine traditional perimeter security measures with hostile vehicle mitigation techniques to ensure a robust defensive posture against an increasingly wide range of external threats.
• Despite the deployment of substantial naval assets in many of the worlds more notorious hotspots, piracy on the high seas remains an intractable problem for which self-help appears to be the only practical solution.
• Major security challenges, including protecting passengers using such open and vulnerable transport infrastructure from acts of terrorism and protecting valuable safety critical assets against organised and opportunistic theft, continue to bedevil national rail operators.

Alongside the extensive conference and exhibition programme, this series of workshops delivers valuable insight into the technology options available to the transport industries, as they grapple with an evolving threat horizon including rising incidences of criminal activity.

This vital event is being held against a backdrop of continuing tension on the world stage, an industry wide threat level that remains high and fundamental policy and operational changes under consultation. These factors will drive the debate, inform decision making and direct purchasing decisions when Transport Security Expo next convenes at London Olympia on 14-15 November 2012.