Securing the data mine

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technology are valuable tools for security providers, says Neil

Shanks

security shift to a preventative, proactive service as opposed to reactive.

How do we get there?

Education is required for the security industry and wider business community to be aware of the power and benefits that AI and MLenabled data analysis and profiling can bring. Data we are already collecting is forming new lines of service in security and seeing an increase in the engagement between the public and security. An example would be asking clients and customers to engage directly with the technology, such as registering their users and visitors details on an app that gives them basic access control through their mobile phone when they arrive on site (for example, at a car park barrier), produce a visitors pass for them, and alert their host when they arrive. By integrating systems (security and non-security) or producing a combined data set, the collective data can be analysed to understand what is happening at the site better than any siloed system can.

AI has a significantly greater capacity to complete these tasks and, with the addition of ML and oversight from a controller identifying the key points, the system will continue to improve this function at pace.

For FM and security to take full advantage of AI and ML, a collaborative approach is required to assist with widespread adoption/ integration, including engaging technology suppliers, software experts, security industry bodies, and private companies. Every modernising step we take in the private security sector gives us greater ability to take preemptive action to mitigate harm, takes us closer to disbanding organised crime, reducing damage and theft, and increasing criminal convictions.

We highly expect AI and ML to be vital tools within Martyn’s Law when it launches this year, as it could be an invaluable tool for identifying risks associated with terrorism and preventing future attacks.

My son Rowan is 13: creative, meticulous and fervently curious. He absorbs knowledge as readily as he divulges it. Yet he’s also – despite the above – nervous about his future employment prospects.

Rowan prospers when his organisation is rigorous, his biorhythms respected and his environments quiet and composed.

Rowan is a neurodiverse teen and the looming threat of his first job –loud, unpredictable, relentless – feels like an assault on his sensibilities. His perceptions of employment, witnessed vicariously through his mum, are of being beholden to a desk, uninvited phones ringing, last-minute demands buzzing around in his head like mosquitoes – too many uncomfortable stimuli.

Neurodivergence can be debilitating because the world isn’t set up for the divergent. Fortunately, our generation has made neurodiversity a part of the public conscience; we’re more sensitive to and aware of the broad spectrum that is autism, and many of us are realising our lifelong struggles with ADHD.

People are recognising that divergences, while complex, are not barriers to success. ADHD can be overstimulating, but the ADHD mind experiences hyperfocus and rewards more intensely than the average mind. We have a responsibility to make work rewarding for those that experience the working world so differently from us.

Awareness is one side of the coin; action and accommodation are our next steps. Part of my work at ISS has been within our Abilities ERG, providing awareness and support recommendations for those with disabilities or recognised neurodivergences.

Abilities are a wide spectrum without binary answers or solutions. A truly inclusive workforce can only manifest when we draw on experiences of those with differing abilities. As a society, we’re no longer afraid of that conversation. As a business, we’re not afraid of that commitment either.

My, how things have changed over the last few years – particularly in our working lives. In 2015, I wrote about how contract caterers were replicating high street trends to bring innovation to their food offering, but in the postCovid world there is a new dynamic at play.

The high street is facing its own challenges, with customers demanding value for money as belts tighten, even while expecting a rise in quality and variety. This is also being felt in the food service sector, but the role that food and beverages play in the workplace has swung on its axis.

Workplace feeding has risen in importance as organisations encourage teams to the workplace – if only for a few days a week. Food service providers are creating flexible propositions requiring fewer catering staff and smaller facilities to deliver. Arguably, this follows the high street model, with centralised production kitchens and the use of supplier innovation.

The step change for food service providers, however, is that the high street has become a battleground with only the strongest surviving. Small operators struggle to overcome the economic blows of staff shortages, rising wages, crippling food and energy inflation, and less footfall as people work from home. This means agile new operators aren’t in sufficient numbers to dilute large brands. On-site catering facilities are being appreciated in a way we haven’t seen for years. Because catering trends need to be reflected in the offering, high street mirroring already exists.

However, when people visit the office, they want to be surprised and energised by their organisation; simply replicating the high street won’t be enough. Which is why food service operators continue to keep abreast of what’s going on, remaining ready to evolve in preparation for the ‘next big thing’.