TechSec Keynote Speaker says he'll only employ proven IP technology

SAVANNAH, Ga.--Opening the second annual TechSec Solutions conference here this past Monday, keynote speaker David Tubbs, executive vice president at SAIC, sounded a cautionary note. While the man who coordinated the Athens summer Olympics for one of the country's biggest systems integrators impressed with tales of personal accomplishment, he also provided a wake-up call to the technologically forward-looking audience by saying he wasn't yet sold on IP technology. "It's been my position for the past 10 years," he said, "that you use tried-and-true systems. The only thing we've done with CCTV [at the Olympics] is we've got better CCTV." Some attendees were stunned that someone with such a successful track record working also with the Atlanta and Salt Lake City Games was so slow to adopt this technology. Others understood his rationale. "I couldn't take the chance that it would break down during the games," Tubbs said. "I just couldn't do it." How then, he was asked, might IP technology find its way into prime-time applications like the one he headed in Athens, largely regarded to be the single biggest security expense for a one-time event? "You'd better be able to show people that it works," Tubbs said, "that it's reliable and that it will help better security efforts. I have not seen any type of technical change [at the Olympics], other than enhancement of products, in the past 10 years. Things have gotten better, but you're not going to see a whole lot of new technology being used unless you get to the right people and show them how this is going to work during the Games." Following Tubbs' presentation, roughly 300 attendees, speakers and vendors attended and presented 26 separate educational sessions over the course of two days. The conference was presented by Security Systems News and Security Director News, both published by United Publications. See more about TechSec Solutions in the April issue of Security Systems News.