INDUSTRY FOCUS

The New Normal, New Technology

• By Ralph C. Jensen
• Dec 02, 2020

I just can’t seem to get my arms around that phrase, “The New Normal.” I’m not sure why it bothers me so much, because how it see it … every day is a new day; every day something new is happening. To me, the new normal sounds like we’re surrendering to a pest.

This industry, security and all its variants, including software has worked through bugs before. With persistence and determination, the industry wins; the pests are defeated. The security industry is no stranger at pushing the envelope. For the most part, I suppose those achievements have been step by step but there have been some quantum leaps.

The point is, security is always moving forward. Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that it is hard to define where it all started, and if it will ever end. It likely will not.

Within the pages of this magazine, I have been fortunate to publish an article from Dr. Martin Gren. He says, “We are seeing more solutions being designed to serve multiple purposes from safety and security to business operations.” The technology has been in place for years, and the natural evolution tends to offer solutions responding to a crisis. Security technology is being integrated within other technologies to provide security and safety in new ways.

Dr. Gren writes about several forthcoming technologies, or solutions that have been in place being reassigned as a new partner. He writes about driving new approaches to cybersecurity. As the ecosystems continues to expand, so does the threat landscape. With more devices being connected there is an awareness of heightened security measures.

A few of the topics that Dr. Gren tackles are zero-trust networks, layered cybersecurity, and device management and lifecycle management.

In concert with Dr. Gren, Fredrik Nilsson weighs in on resilience in the face of crisis. Now, this is what I like to read about. It is optimistic and deals with the reality we find ourselves today. Nilsson writes about the COVID-19 pandemic and corporate global citizenship. The thought process behind COVID-19 involves the technology of touchless door entry solutions with Apps that can authenticate users and automatically open a door.

Some businesses are already using intelligent IP audio systems, which will relay critical health information to everyone entering a building.

What about Nilsson’s thoughts on corporate global citizenship? I’ll give you a hint of what he is writing about, to include Planet, People and Profit. This is the real new normal. This is where the new normal bumps into technology, in a meeting.

This article originally appeared in the November / December 2020 issue of Security Today.