The Nordic SecTech Summit 2024 (NSTS), held on 17 October in Riga, was a great success, bringing together more than 160 senior and mid-level executives from more than 95 companies and government institutions representing critical industries.

This year, NSTS, one of the security industry's leading platforms for up-to-date information and knowledge development, offered not only demonstrations of the latest developments in security technology, but also valuable insights into the latest trends, innovative solutions and best practices.

This year's unifying theme was "Designing for People-Centred Safety". Māris Baltbergs, the event organiser and ALTAS IT Chairman of the Board, comments on why this theme was chosen: "Security systems are like onions - multi-layered, and when used incorrectly, they make you cry. In the world of security, everything starts and ends with the human being, who is the key link in any system. Our daily lives show that purchased systems are often not used to their full potential because the person for whom they are intended is at the centre of the system. This is the operator, the monitoring specialist, the security guard - various names, but always the person who reacts first to the information provided by cameras, sensors, detectors and other devices. It is on this person that the future processes and security of any organisation depend. That is why the theme of this year's Summit focused on the person who is the unifying factor in any organisation. With this Summit, we wanted to re-emphasise the need to re-evaluate how people-safe and people-as-end-users security systems really are in every organisation."

This year, the big stage was graced by such well-known leading experts in various fields in Latvia as Kārlis Apalups (ZEVS Consulting group and Director of the Organisation Security Management academic programme at Turība University), Agate Ambulte (Head of Digital Transformation Artificial Intelligence at Riga Stradiņš University), Sandris Grantiņš (Head of IT Department at Rīgas satiksme RP SIA), Kaspars Rožkalns (UPB nams Chairman of the Board), Ilze Jansone (Expert, Civil Protection and Operational Information Department, Riga City Municipality), Elviss Strazdiņš (Founder and Technology Enthusiast, Digital Security Centre), Uģis Uškāns (Head of Legal Property and Underwriting, AAS BALTA) and François Levy (Business Development Director, EMEA, Digifort Global).

These experienced speakers shared their knowledge and experience on topics that are relevant and pressing for everyone today, including the implementation of NIS2 regulations in security technologies and adaptation to the needs of the organisation, cybersecurity of individuals and legal entities, physical security and civil protection - what to know and what to do in case of threats, how not to lose money during project planning, how to properly manage risks in design and construction, and other important topics. It should be noted that one of the additional benefits of attending this particular part of the Summit was that guests were able to get answers to questions posed by the experts - exploring the issues gathered during the day from different perspectives and areas of activity. One attendee, who works in the public security sector, said: "This summit for security professionals proved to be very valuable. I would like to note that I personally found it very useful to attend this event. It was a great opportunity to see things as if they were familiar through different eyes, to learn something new."

In addition to the lectures on the big stage, everyone had the opportunity to visit the exhibition, where the latest security technology products and solutions were presented, both from the world's leading TOP50 manufacturers, as well as from local Latvian companies. In the second half of the day, visitors were invited to attend five practical workshops or interactive sessions - starting with access control demonstrations, demonstrations of Motorola body cameras (which are actively used, for example, in police work in Ireland), integrated solutions in practice, and finally with discussions on higher education opportunities for security professionals and a demonstration of a ransomware created especially for this event, which was one of the best demonstration sessions in the opinion of the visitors.

The informal part of the Summit was also highlighted by networking opportunities with colleagues and potential partners, accompanied by live music provided by the youth music group "Grupa bez nosaukuma" from Liepaja. "I was impressed by the performance of the musicians. It is very rare to find such young and talented young people who are able to "dress up" relatively old songs in a new and really unique sound. Their energetic performance set such a cool tone for the end of the day," said one of the visitors.

"We are delighted with the response and positive feedback from industry professionals," said Oskars Pirags, one of the event organisers and ALTAS IT Business Development Director. "The attendance of industry-specific representatives is a testament to the growing importance of security technology and human interaction in today's world, and we are proud to have created a platform where industry professionals can connect, learn and collaborate. We consider this Summit a success as it provided participants with valuable knowledge, long-term networking opportunities and even inspiration. We look forward to welcoming everyone again next year at the Nordic SecTech Summit 2025, with a completely new concept, opportunities and, of course, a unifying theme."

Video recordings of the speakers' presentations will soon be available on ALTAS IT Latvija's Youtube.com profile, so the event organisers invite you to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn or by subscribing to receive news by e-mail. You can sign up for email updates on the event organisers' website www.altas.lv.

The date for next year's event has not yet been announced, but anyone who would like to be involved in organising this autumn's most anticipated event for safety professionals, either as a participant or a supporter, should contact the organisers at info@nordicsectechsummit.eu

Press release prepared by Sanita Meijere, Marketing Specialist and Event Coordinator. Further information can be obtained by contacting sanita.meijere@altas.lv