Spokesperson Introduction:

Andy Mackay, marketing director at Genetec for EMEA, 

Question 1: The unified platform approach of Genetec is reshaping how organisations think about physical security. How does this unification strategy resonate with the specific needs of African markets?

Response: Yeah, there’s something going on. It’s actually happening globally, but I see it a lot. In the African markets, there’s a real need to shift physical security from being just about protecting people and protecting assets to adding the ability to add value to a business organization and the way you do that is through unification. So, you need to bring the technologies and video management access control, license plate recognition all together into one unified platform, to then be able to add the business value to the organization. 

Question 2: Cloud and hybrid deployments are major trends globally. What role do you see cloud-native and hybrid security solutions playing in Africa’s security evolution?

Response: Cloud is super important. You know, it is the backbone of the AI Revolution. And that is the tool that’s enabling the business value to be achieved, whether it’s large language models, facial recognitions, etc, you need the power of the cloud to do that, crunching, and that compute to add that value. But not all organizations or locations in Africa have the capabilities to connect seamlessly into those cloud environments. So it’s really important to have a hybrid approach where some of your compute power can be in the cloud or on-premises, or in a multi environment like hybrid, and at Genetec, we uniquely have a product called the Cloudlink 210, which actually provides all the goodness of a cloud infrastructure. But on, on-Prem, it doesn’t have that requirement to be constantly connected to the internet. 

Question: Al-powered analytics and vehicle intelligence are key elements of some of the latest innovations introduced by Genetec. How relevant are these capabilities to Africa’s infrastructure and public safety challenges?

Response: Yeah, it’s super important. As I mentioned, the AI Revolution is enabling organizations to add value. So, it’s not just about protecting what is happening. But it’s about predicting what could happen. So, in public safety environments and traffic conditions. You can predict traffic issues before they even happen, and that’s through the power of AI. 

Question: The recent State of Physical Security Report by Genetec highlights the shift toward strategic, operational security. In what ways is this shift visible in African organisations today. 

Response: Yeah, as you say, we’ve just relaunched our State of Physical Security Report. It’s our sixth one that we’ve done. And it’s just been launched, and what came out very strong globally, but really specifically in Africa is that shift of being more business value outcomes. So, it’s all about the IT and the operations department working together to add that value. One other thing that came up really loud in Africa is there’s a real appetite to do that. There’s a real lack of human knowledge. There’s a real skills gap in being able to add value to this environment. 

Question: Long-term partnerships and vendor trust have emerged as key decision factors worldwide. What makes Africa a strategic priority for the long-term growth and innovation investments

Response: The decision factor of trust is so critical. When you move into the world of adding value to a business, you become then critical to the business’s resilience, and the business’s profitability and revenue streams. When you get there, which is this industry is heading in that direction. You then have to choose the vendors that you trust. Trust that they work ethically, trust that they have good cybersecurity credentials, and trust that they’re here for the long-term.