Adrián Gómez (SICUR 2024): "The fair will be an international meeting point for professionals and companies"
Adrián Gómez, Chairman of the Organising Committee of the International Security Exhibition, SICUR 2024, organised by IFEMA MADRID, explains in the following interview the main goals and areas of the fair, which will present the latest developments and solutions in the security sector to the market, and will be an international meeting point for professionals and companies. Gómez, who is also Chairman of TECNIFUEGO, also explains the plans of the Spanish Association of Fire Protection Companies to improve the safety of people and property.
What does it mean to you to chair the SICUR 2024 Organising Committee?
It is an honour and an opportunity to hold the chairmanship of the SICUR 2024 Organising Committee, as this trade fair is a major international benchmark in the areas of security, bringing together nearly 40,000 professionals, 1,600 companies and more than 500 booths in its halls.
It is a great event where the latest advances in innovation and technologies are presented in the five major areas that make up the fair: security, cybersecurity, fire safety, emergency safety and occupational safety. A sector, we should remember, that is essential for well-being, protection and social development.
In this regard, for TECNIFUEGO it is an excellent way of raising the profile of our fire safety sector, of which we are very proud due to its importance in safeguarding lives and property and also the environment by contributing to the reduction of CO2 gases produced by a fire.
¿Puede resumirnos los principales objetivos de esta edición de SICUR?
The main goals of SICUR 2024 are to present innovations and solutions in the security sector to the market; to be an international meeting point for professionals and companies; to highlight - in its Innovation Gallery - a selection of cutting-edge products and services in R&D&I that have been selected by a panel of judges from among those presented by exhibiting companies; to update knowledge through the Sicur Forum and to maintain active business and commercial ties at the fair through Sicur LIVEConnect, which strengthens these contacts in an extensive professional network for the security industry.
How will you encourage greater involvement of the industrial fabric that SICUR serves and interaction between exhibitors and the organisers?
The fair's Organising Committee has the backing and participation of the leading Associations that represent the different sectors that make up the Show. These include our own Spanish Association of Fire Protection Companies, TECNIFUEGO; as well as Aproser, the Professional Association of Private Security Services Companies; Asepal, the Association of Personal Protection Equipment Companies, and AES, the Spanish Association of Security Companies, which hold the three Vice-Chairs.
The Committee also involves the participation of other security supply and demand associations, official bodies and State security forces and corps. This results in an intense and smooth interaction between exhibitors and the organisers for the efficient running of the fair and its activities. The involvement of these entities is very positive in all of this, as each year's event improves, so the professionals who attend and participate consider the time invested in the fair to be very well spent.
How will the event be structured and what kind of proposals will be presented in the different areas?
SICUR will be held in Halls 4, 6, 8 and 10 of the Exhibition Centre from 27 February to 1 March 2024. This area will showcase the various representative areas of Fire and Emergency Safety, Occupational Safety, and Private and Public Security, in the Security sector. In addition, Sicur Start UPS will bring together a selection of recently created companies with innovative products and/or services. It is well worth highlighting the Sicur Cyber area, which will be attended by the main suppliers of cybersecurity solutions, and the programme of conferences, debates and workshops where current challenges in this field will be addressed.
What are the goals of the SICUR Forum and the Innovation Gallery?
The Sicur Forum is a programme of technical workshops, conferences and debates on current topics whose aim is to update knowledge and technical, legislative and market developments in the sector. It is a great opportunity to get an overview of security in the areas covered. Meanwhile, the Innovation Gallery will showcase a selection of cutting-edge innovations, in recognition of the R&D&I efforts made by the exhibitor companies that have entered the competition. And as in every year's event, in order to provide the fair with practical examples and dynamism, there will be live exhibitions and demonstrations, simulations of operations in emergency situations, and so on.
You are also Chairman of TECNIFUEGO, the Spanish Association of Fire Protection Companies. What actions do you plan to carry out in 2023 to improve the safety of people, property and the environment?
TECNIFUEGO has launched an awareness campaign with the aim of ensuring that there are no fire casualties. Our #ZeroCasualties goal will be present in all our communications over the next few years. Because we consider that this is the number to be attained: zero deaths, and we are going to do everything in our power to achieve it. Furthermore, we want to confront and lead the fight against greenhouse gases produced by forest and industrial fires. We want people to realise that these greenhouse gas emissions associated with forest fires are twice as much as the CO2 generated by the production of the European Union's fossil fuel industry, according to recent figures. This is intolerable and we must fight against it, each in our own field; from our collective, led by TECNIFUEGO, by presenting effective solutions against fires and alerting citizens of this risk and the possibility of minimising it with simple self-protection measures.