On a recent visit to Arecont Vision in Los Angeles one of the first things I noticed in the reception area was a plaque presented by the SIA (Security Industry Association) to Scott Schafer, Executive Vice President at Arecont Vision who also happens to be the Treasurer of the SIA. I was intrigued to find out more about the SIA, here in the USA.
Prior to leaving the UK I visited the SIA (Security Industry Authority) to interview the chairman, Elizabeth France and the CEO, Alan Clamp. As a consequence the SIA had been at the back of my mind since leaving the UK and was the main reason my interest was intensified when I discovered the SIA-USA. The fundamental difference between the SIA-UK and the SIA-USA is that the SIA over here is a private association and not a government body. The vision statement for the US Security Industry Association is to be ‘the world’s leading association for security solutions’ and their mission is to be a ‘catalyst for success within the global security industry through information, insight and influence’. This US SIA protects and advances their members’ interests by advocating pro-industry policies and laws. They also produce global market research and work at creating open industry standards that enable integration; and advancing industry professionalism through education and training. I wanted to know more and recently caught up with CEO, Don Erickson, pictured, who leads the SIA board’s strategic framework and oversees SIA’s collaboration with industry and vertical market associations and organisations. He is also responsible for the management of SIA’s operations including government relations, education and standards initiatives and serves as the primary liaison to International Security Conference (ISC) events. Prior to joining SIA, Erickson had a security industry background and also served as manager of legislative affairs for Alcatel and legislative director for the Organisation for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO). He spent six years on the senior legislative staff of US Republican Senator for Minnesota, Rod Grams, where he facilitated the enactment of legislation pertaining to criminal justice, telecommunications and technology policy.
Therefore my first question was; representing SIA at government level, did he feel that SIA’s voice is listened to, and did he have an example? Erickson replied: “The Security Industry Association maintains a very active government relations advocacy programme that primarily focuses on influencing public policy issues being developed by federal government agencies. However, SIA monitors hundreds of state legislative proposals annually, and in 2015, SIA supported the enactment of more than ten different state legislative bills. With respect to federal government influence, SIA led the effort to develop and pass legislation in the United States Congress that made it easier for state and local governments to purchase fire alarm systems, access control devices, perimeter security and video surveillance systems and countless other homeland security goods and services.” Erickson went on to say that the SIA campaigns on behalf of pro-industry policies and legislation on Capitol Hill and throughout the 50 states. The SIA promotes policies and legislation that drive business opportunities in a range of vertical markets, including ports, transit, and education. I asked if he worked with public agencies. Erickson said: “A key component of the strategic plan adopted by the SIA board of directors is to foster collaboration with other organisations and public agencies to provide value for our mutual members, their customers, and the general public. We have successfully implemented this goal through a programme of regular outreach to vertical market organisations and associations that include but are not limited to ASIS International, the National School Board Association, the County Executives of America, the American Association of Port Authorities, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Global Security Risk Management Association, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.” We spoke about the importance of relationship building and I could not help but compare the two SIA organisations and thought that it would be a splendid idea to have an Anglo-American Exchange of SIAs? I think it would be beneficial to compare the way the two agencies work from a learning perspective identifying the differences between a public-private exchange of ideas? Certainly food for thought! Erickson went on: “Many of our relationships have been formalised through the adoption of memorandums of understanding fostering information-sharing between SIA and other organisations. This proactive outreach has translated into multiple SIA member benefits including a SIA Security Practitioner Insights webinar series that provides insight into the issues faced by security professionals across the nation so that our members can develop solutions and offer advice to help solve their unique challenges. SIA’s involvement with public agencies transcends many public agencies, that ranges from our work with the GSA (the General Services Administration, which provides buildings and supplies for US federal workers) to efforts to influence rules promulgated by agencies including the United States Departments of Justice, Transportation, Homeland Security, Energy, and Commerce, and hundreds of millions of dollars in government security spending. The SIA is also proud to serve on the private sector committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Private Sector Liaison Committee. SIA is a leading supporter of the Security Industry Alarm Coalition. SIA is an incredibly effective organisation that works closely with local law enforcement agencies to shape sensible false alarm ordinances.” We talked about the quality of work, and on the SIA creating open industry standards that enable integration, I asked if the association advocated ISO (international) standards or only American?
Erickson replied: “SIA definitely advocates for international standards and we are increasingly getting involved with both ISO and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards activities. This year, SIA Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) will be included as part of an IEC access control standard initiative promoting smart-card interoperability. Moreover, based on some interesting aspects of a European standard from CENELEC, SIA will be revising our own passive infra-red (PIR) standard to include a tiered conformance mechanism. All new SIA standards initiatives begin with an examination of both foreign and domestic standards already available.” Obviously standards should reflect the differences in international markets, but whenever possible similarities are recognised and referenced within standards documents. The market places seem to be similar in many ways but I wanted to know if there were any burning issues affecting the industry. Erickson said: “SIA is very proud to represent the most innovative security technology companies in the world. Each day, SIA members and our organisation work together to address major issues that present both unique challenges and incredible opportunities. For example, SIA’s Standards Cloud, Mobility, and IoT (Internet of Things) working group has been working to evaluate and communicate the impact of IoT on our industry. SIA’s Government Relations team is deeply involved in efforts to influence guidance related to GSA pricing policy and the application of Buy America requirements to certain federally-funded security projects. Our education leaders have developed a programme that will help our companies identify and attract new employees in the areas of security project management and product development. While SIA has a very diverse membership, the majority of our members are manufacturers and the threat of litigation from ‘patent trolls’ continues to be a major issue in our industry.” I wanted to know more about patent trolls. Erickson said: “Security product manufacturers invest considerable time, R&D resources, and human capital into developing a wide range of cutting-edge security solutions. A significant threat to investment in the next generation of security offerings is the aggressive efforts of ‘patent trolls’ to extort excessive license fees from businesses they allege have committed patent infringement. These resources could be used by companies to hire more people, train existing employees, invest in new technologies, and keep America healthy, safe, and prosperous.” It would appear that many states have introduced legislation to create or amend state laws that punish bad faith patent assertions, commonly referred to as patent trolling. While patent law in the US is traditionally a federal issue, in May 2013, Vermont became the first state to pass legislation to attempt to halt patent trolling. The federal government has also decided to re-examine the issue.
I asked more about the effect of patent trolling and what the SIA is doing as part a multi-industry coalition. Erickson said: “We have joined together in support of federal legislation to combat the substantial problem of patent trolls and their unscrupulous practices, which plagues America’s intellectual property system. SIA is part of United for Patent Reform, a coalition representing an influential cross-section of more than 50 trade associations representing industries ranging from automobile manufacturing to community bankers, local broadcasters, retail establishments, and the software and IT industries.” We chatted about Erickson’s industry background and that he had been named a top CEO by CEO Update magazine. I asked what was next in the pipeline. Erickson replied: “First, I am personally excited that on February 25, SIA launched a new two-year degree programme in physical security in partnership with Mercer County Community College in New Jersey. We expect this programme to be very successful and our plan is to take the curriculum to other community colleges. The aim of this program is to help attract a new generation of professionals to this industry. Notably, the SIA-Mercer program also fulfils another key organisational objective, which is to foster diversity within the security industry. Mercer County Community College has one of the most diverse student populations in the country and that is a key reason that led us to work closely with their leadership on this programme.” I asked him to elaborate. He went on: “This degree programme will provide students with a for-credit curriculum consisting of courses in liberal arts disciplines including, but not limited to, communications, the business environment, accounting, and management. Students enrolled in the programme will receive technical foundation courses in stand-alone and networked computer hardware, software, and operating systems, fundamental electronics, wiring, cabling, fibre optics, security sales, and security project management. Eligible students will participate in SIA-developed core courses in security product technologies, security technology support, security project management, and security sales. Secondly, SIA is developing an aggressive outreach programme to students known as “RISE: today’s rising stars, tomorrow’s security leaders” to help promote our industry to high school and college students and recent graduates. We hope that security integrators that share our vision for attracting the best and brightest of Generation Y to our industry will actively lend their expertise to this programme.”
