Skip to Content

SIA talks up new training, certification

SIA talks up new training, certification

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--By the end of 2006, "those who are engineering tomorrow's security systems" will be able to acquire training online via a Security Industry Association program, and a certification for what's tentatively titled Security System Design Specialist "should be right behind it," said SIA Director of Education Jay Hanger and SIA Industry Group Manager Doug Wright. The plan for the new education program and certification comes after years of discussion within SIA's Systems Integration Industry Group. "What they were finding," said Wright, "was simply a void in education in this particular area...we wanted to be creating [the training], not the ones who were told they have to do it that way." The training will be pegged to three skill levels: installer, technician, and designer/engineer with goal of helping designers master "the technical aspects of large multi-disciplinary systems integration projects." "There are certifications in the IT industry," emphasized Hanger, "with skills and knowledge that are similar, but what the security experts are saying is that there's no need for somebody to get a Microsoft MSCE certification in order to install modern security equipment, but there is a similar amount that they do need to know. Rather than have Microsoft create it, SIA felt that we should rush to do it ourselves." To these ends, SIA has put out a request for proposals (RFP) from those who are interested in developing this training, which will be overseen by the Security System Design Specialist Certification Subcommittee. An RFP for the certification assessment will go out in the next couple of weeks, said Wright. Most important for the certification, said Hanger, is that those who already have the required knowledge base will be eligible for the assessment without having to take the training course.

Comments

To comment on this post, please log in to your account or set up an account now.