The homeland security market is growing and so are the number of industry players and homemade products. Yet the fourth edition of the homeland security expo, Indesec 2011, was a gloomy affair. The expo had enough to provide visitors varied product experience, but did not attract many except government officials and industry representatives. There was a considerable rise in the number of Indian players this year whereas it is not the same with international companies.

Organised by Informa India in association with the Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM), and supported by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the three-day event brought together many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) from India and abroad.

Inaugurating the exhibition, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, said that security is the responsibility of each and every citizen of the country and the international community should understand the agony of India. “The government and industry should collaborate to upgrade and modernise security systems and communication networks,” he said.

Homeland Security Assessment—India Expansion and Growth, a report on homeland security developed by ASSOCHAM and Aviotech was also released on the occasion by Naidu.

Rajiv Mehrotra, Chairman and MD, Shyam Telecom and President, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (TEMA), said, “It is in our interest to develop indigenous high-tech products and better cooperation between private and public sector can make it possible.” Likewise, Dr S.D. Pradhan, ex-Chairman, Task Force on Intelligence Mechanism, Prime Minister’s Office, said that closer cooperation between government agencies and corporate bodies can help enhance the capacity of the intelligence agencies, while R.F. Khan of Ericsson India said that a procurement policy like the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) should be made for homeland security as well. “It will make it easier for the private sector to avoid lengthy government procedures.”

Although there were many international players, the participation of small and medium enterprises was noticeable. Besides industry leaders like Tata Motors, Cobham, Hawker Beechcraft, other exhibitors including Panasonic, Mistral Solutions, MKU, Streit Group, Lacroix Defence and Security, Ericsson, Getac Technology Corporation, CAE, Saab Systems GRintek, Maresco Technologies and Tenmek Optics Ltd from Israel, Trijicon, Nova Integrated Systems Limited, FLIR, etc participated in the annual event.

Conferences

A two-day-long high level conference was also organised which had sessions on “Critical Infrastructure Protection”, “Scope of Homeland Security in Offset Policy”, “Electronic and Digital Surveillances: Challenges and Way Forward”, “Centre & States Partnering for Homeland Security”, “Upgrading Technology for Effective-Border Management”, “Cyber Warfare: An Extension of Foreign Policy”, etc.