Security is a Key Element for Smart Cities

Guest blog post by Jenna Dunay, Director of International Government Affairs for S2 Global

We were honored to join the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews on the Smart Cities Infrastructure Business Development Trade Mission he led to New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai on February 8 – 12^th, 2016. 

India being the world’s third largest economy and second largest population offers tremendous opportunities for U.S. companies like us particularly in the infrastructure development space.  With a renewed focus on the creation of 100 smart cities, the Government of India is implementing reforms to accomplish this arduous task in various sectors which include resource management, water and power supply and world-class transportation systems to name a few.  Because of the infrastructure upgrades that will continue to take place over the next few years as part of the smart cities initiative, it is more important than ever that these smart cities also become safe cities and that necessary safety and security measures are implemented to support these widespread infrastructure developments.  

Due to India’s need for comprehensive security screening solutions, we at S2 Global, Inc., a provider of turnkey security screening solutions were eager to participate in the trade mission. S2 Global’s capabilities include project management and operation, training, security equipment, image analysis and maintenance services at ports land borders, airports and critical infrastructure. By participating in this trade mission, we were able to understand the multitude of projects to be implemented and identify opportunities to work with Indian firms and government officials to form long-standing partnerships to assist them in their efforts.

Working closely with U.S. Department of Commerce staff, specifically the U.S commercial service personnel in each of the cities we were visiting to develop our company schedule for each mission stop, ensured the high-quality meetings we participated in throughout the trip.  The mission provided us with a great opportunity to introduce ourselves and our innovative business solution to high level personnel within the Indian government, large infrastructure companies and private airport and port terminal operators.   We left the trade mission with a better understanding of  India’s overall security concerns and plans for the future.  More importantly, we are more hopeful than ever about business opportunities in the market and feel that there is a strong willingness by the India government and private sector to move forward and show that they are making significant progress on all infrastructure initiatives.