By Calvin Biesecker
The need for improved public safety and security in India is not new, despite the fact that the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai startled both that country and the world, largely because of past terrorist attacks in the country combined with a wealthier population that is demanding improvements in public safety and security, says an Israeli official who helps Israeli security firms find export markets.
The Mumbai attacks magnify the need for India to invest more in security measures, including technology, in particular because Delhi will host the Commonwealth Games in 2010, which the country will want to be successful but will also be a security “nightmare,” Guy Zuri, business development manager for Security, Safety and Homeland Security at The Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute, tells sister publication TR2.
Those big events always have deadlines for the purchase of equipment, he says.
The games, which are basically a small Olympics for the nations of the British Commonwealth, have over 5,000 athletes from 52 countries. “There is a huge potential for investment in security [because of the games] and a huge potential for us to work with local governments and companies,” Zuri says.
Following the attacks, Zuri says his colleagues in India have been expressing “a lot of interest” in new technologies and solutions.
Zuri believes that one area for growth in the Indian security market is the need to develop “holistic solutions” that better integrate existing and even new technologies in its main cities. Cameras, sensors, intelligence, law enforcement and emergency responders need to be tied together with command and control for improved coordination, he says. They want to “wrap” what they have into a single solution, he adds.
This “Safe Cities” type of project entails more than just technology, it also requires consulting for risk assessments, concepts of operation, the threats and the solution, Zuri says.
One aspect of the Mumbai attacks that will affect how India views terrorist threats is that the attackers appear to be from Pakistan, where the operation may have been planned as well, which means it is an international problem not just an domestic one, Zuri says. This means some shifts in investments in fighting terror, he adds.
While the attacks may serve as a catalyst for larger investments in security, the fact that more of India’s population is moving into the middle and even wealthier classes, is creating opportunities for public safety because these people want to ensure that their neighborhoods and areas where they work are secure, Zuri says. This doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with terrorism but with basic demands for crime prevention and improved safety, he says.
Even before the Mumbai attacks India was seen as an emerging market for homeland security and public safety by Israel.
Israel has 350 exporting countries in the homeland security market. About 70 percent of these companies combined sales are from exports, Zuri says.
The Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute is a non-profit, quasi-governmental organization that provides seminars and services to help Israeli firms learn how to export their goods. The organization also identifies business opportunities overseas.
The investment research firm Frost & Sullivan has released a new study regarding the homeland security market in India, saying sales in that market were $800 million in 2007 and will grow to over $9.7 billion in 2016.
“The continuous threat of terrorism, the development of India’s infrastructure and the eventual development of the nation’s civil aviation capacity promise to expand overall security spending to over $9 billion by 2016,” says F&S Senior Consultant Friso Buker. “The high level of mass transport infrastructure construction will push this figure even higher.”
The new analysis says that airport security spending in India is expected to total over $3.2 billion by 2016, representing a 5 percent compound annual growth rate.
F&S also says that the Mumbai attacks demonstrate that “soft targets” where there are a lot of civilians, such as hotels, will have to take steps to improve security, such as increasing security manpower and using more technology.