TA to host int’l Homeland Security Conference

Hot topics: Urban security, cyber security, crisis management and protection of critical infrastructures.

By BEN HARTMAN
Cyber warfare US Department of Homeland Security 311 (R) (photo credit: Ho New / Reuters)
Cyber warfare US Department of Homeland Security 311 (R)
(photo credit: Ho New / Reuters)
Security expertise and anti-terror know-how have long replaced Jaffa oranges as Israel’s best-known export. With that in mind, next week dozens of homeland security ministers, mayors, law enforcement officers and others will arrive for the Israel Homeland Security 2012 conference in Tel Aviv.
“Facing a multitude of terror threats over the past decades, the State of Israel has initiated and supported the development and implementation of state-of-the-art homeland security solutions. Today, Israel is home to numerous companies that are at the forefront of homeland security technology,” the organizers of the second annual conference said this week.
The November 11-14 conference will focus on the four hot subjects of homeland security: Urban security, cyber security, crisis management and protection of critical infrastructures, organizers also said.
Those expected to attend the conference, to be held at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, include Luiz Fernando Correa, director of security for the 2016 Brazil Olympic Games Organizing Committee, and the chiefs of police of Milan, Atlanta and Chicago.
In addition to panels and discussions, the conference will feature no shortage of opportunities for guests to network and do business with dozens of Israeli security companies that have staked out spots at the event, which is being organized by the Israel Export Institute in cooperation with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Industry, Trade and Labor.
In a message the Foreign Ministry sent out about the conference in October, it quoted Israel Export Institute CEO Ofer Sachs, who said, “The global homeland security market has significant business potential for Israeli companies and businesses. This is one of the world’s most rapid growing and changing markets in recent years, with an annual growth rate of approximately 6.5 percent, and an estimated global investment of approximately $188 billion in 2011, for manpower, training and technology acquisition. It is estimated that by the year 2020, the worldwide expense for homeland security will reach $330b. per year.”