At this year’s GSX, we met with global security leaders to better understand the technology they are employing in response to emerging threats.
Last week, several members of our team traveled to Chicago to take part in Global Security Exchange (GSX) 2019. This annual ASIS International event brings together top security and technology professionals to network, learn, and conduct business. For our team specifically, GSX presented the opportunity to see the latest innovations in action, reconnect with our industry partners, and demonstrate the capabilities of our latest integrated security applications.
Emerging Security Technologies
This year, GSX attracted over 500 exhibitors from around the world. The booths ranged from behemoths like Axis Communications and GardaWorld to start-up software providers like ourselves. Despite our differing booth sizes, most exhibitors shared a common goal to ensure that technology evolves at a faster pace than the security threats our customers are facing.
Of the many game-changing technologies showcased at GSX, it was Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) that took center stage. Otherwise known as drones, these aerial vehicles were a hot topic of discussion at GSX this year. In fact, the show designated a specific area of the exhibit hall as the “Disruption District” — an area dedicated to demonstrations and discussions of drone technology. The Coolfire booth was located adjacent to Disruption District, which gave us the opportunity to see numerous drones in action and hear the latest information on drone legislation and restrictions.
A favorite amongst the attendees at GSX was the DroneHunter demo from Boeing-backed Fortem Technologies. Built to protect the airspace above soft targets such as sporting events and parades, the DroneHunter is capable of shooting a net up to 25 feet to capture enemy drones. After capturing its target, the DroneHunter then uses GPS to tow the enemy drone to a designated safe place. The demonstration was a huge hit, and crowds gathered throughout the course of GSX to witness firsthand how the DroneHunter pursues and captures other ‘rogue’ drones.
Our team was also impressed with the Smart Aerial Monitoring System (SAMS) from Easy Aerial. This mobile ‘drone in a box’ concept provides security teams with a fully autonomous unmanned drone for perimeter and border security. The drone is auto-activated from an AI monitoring system and is built to integrate with other assets on the ground such as cameras, fence detection systems, and ground sensors. The portability and interoperability of this product caught our attention in the sea of other aerial vehicles.
Software Solutions at GSX
Coolfire was joined by a number of other software solutions at GSX, all with varying product offerings to bring to the security space. There were impressive solutions like Dataminr, which scrapes the web for potential threats and then delivers that intel to clients; and Everbridge, which offers a variety of solutions from basic alerting to a critical event response platform.
While the software space may be crowded, we walked away from GSX with a renewed excitement for our cloud services and the unique value they offer. Coolfire stands apart with our ability to deliver both historic and real-time data to officers and employees, whether they’re on-site or off-the-grid. We also received positive feedback on our CityHub app built to improve the operations of security and business teams through collaboration and a common operational picture. Thank you to everyone who visited our booth and we look forward to seeing you again next year.
Images via ASIS International
