Interview with Pablo Ramos, the new president of the SICUR Organising Committee
Pablo Ramos, Vice President of ASEPAL and President of the Organising Committee for SICUR 2022, reveals that the trade fair should act as a ‘national and international loudspeaker, conduit and driver’ for the participating companies. Ramos, who offers a detailed analysis of progress in the sector, explains that SICUR is ‘one of the most important international trade fairs for safety and security in the European Union, helping to project our global visibility and positioning and showcasing our competitiveness and strength’.
How do you rate the progress made in the integrated safety and security sector in Spain over recent years?
Safety and security have always been subject to one fundamental parameter: prevention. Our capacity to anticipate solutions, equipment needs, measures and protocols that address and minimise the different types of incidents, accidents and crimes that affect both our society and our industry professionals is critical.
Safety and security are an increasing concern and are required in a multitude of situations and tasks. This is why our companies and institutions - which encompass the five major areas of integrated safety and security: emergencies, cybersecurity, security, fire protection, and occupational health and safety - have always looked ahead to the unforeseen needs of our society and our professionals over the years, because integrated safety and security starts with readiness.
We are a sector which embraces constant innovation, with extensive product and technology development capabilities. We demand more every day so that we can reduce the work-related accident rate, increase resource capacity for fighting fires of all kinds, tackle the growing incidence of cybercrime and ensure that our state security forces and emergency services are equipped with the means and measures necessary for their various actions.
In this regard, I cannot forego this opportunity to mention the unified response to Covid-19 that all companies and institutions involved in integrated safety and security have provided and continue to provide. We should congratulate ourselves on the colossal effort made by each link in this chain. Only those of us who consider ourselves professionals in the sector and who are fully aware of all that has happened can comprehend just how much everyone has done to help and work together in this terrible situation. This situation continues to demand responsibility and response, and this has led us to face new challenges and demands that we must address to ensure that there is always sufficient safety and security in any situation.
What major post-pandemic challenges will the safety and security sector face?
There are always many challenges that we have to face, but, unfortunately for some companies in our industry, the first task will be to study their viability. Like many other sectors of industry, some companies in our sphere - such as manufacturers of some of the PPE not required for Covid-19 or firefighting companies that saw their projects reduced during 2020 - will have to restructure in line with their financial capacity after many months with little or no activity or limited production. Spain’s industrial and economic forecasts do not encourage optimism either.
Consequently, these challenges are just as significant as, or possibly greater than, those posed from the standpoint of the implementation and improvement of specific protection products or innovative solutions for prevention and readiness. In this respect, we do not consider ‘post-pandemic’ challenges as different, because we are a sector that has to constantly reinvent solutions of all kinds to help improve safety and security.
How do you think SICUR 2022 will help speed the recovery of the sector and drive business forward?
SICUR should be the national and international loudspeaker, conduit and driver for the companies participating in this event. It is one of the most important international trade fairs for safety and security in the European Union, helping to project our global visibility and positioning and showcasing our competitiveness and strength. Spain has major companies and institutions that can lead and, in some cases, are already leading the protection, safety and security sector at international level.
SICUR 2022 needs to be an event that is distinguished by its capacity to offer exposure and positioning for participating companies, because we must strive to compete and position ourselves abroad. Only in this way will we succeed in growing and making our companies stronger and ensure that SICUR becomes an international benchmark in the EU for other similar events. Because the strength of an institution like IFEMA MADRID-SICUR boosts the momentum and credibility of our companies abroad.