GSX 2023: Data, Analytics, and Managing the Security Tech Stack

This year’s Global Security Exchange (GSX) has come and gone. We’re back from Dallas, after having seen some of the latest developments and trends in security technology.

GSX 2023, hosted by ASIS International, was held from Sept. 11-13 this year in Dallas, TX. It’s the security industry’s biggest and longest-running trade show, bringing together tens of thousands of professionals from across the security industry. This year’s conference garnered the highest attendance in GSX history, with nearly 16,000 registrants from 95 countries and more than 470 exhibitors demonstrating the latest security solutions.

Circadian Risk had a booth at this year’s conference, but we were able to get out a bit and see some of the trends and new developments in the physical security industry.

What did we see at GSX?

In the past, technology wasn’t always embraced as a solution to specific security challenges, but that’s been changing recently. This year, we saw a real emphasis on the strategy behind using technology for security. In other words, attendees weren’t as interested in the latest gadgets as they were in how to use them. That’s a big change from the first GSX I attended in 2000, when most organizations were only interested in guards, cameras, and access control.

1. Analytics: This year saw a big focus on data and analytics. Risk analysis, threat analysis, and trend analysis were all well represented. This is a fantastic change; I’m heartened to see that companies are making security decisions based on data rather than on more subjective criteria.

2. Integrations: Integrations were on the minds of attendees this year. Many of the people we saw have invested in several solutions. They want all of that technology to play nicely together.

3. Consolidating the technology stack: Making the security tech stack more manageable was a big theme this year. Many organizations are looking to narrow down the number of tools they’re using. If they can find one tool that does many things, they are willing to eliminate single-function tech tools, even if they’ve been using those tools for a long time.

4. Physical security is a growing priority: One thing we noticed this year is that there are more security executives at GSX. This is good news; it shows that companies are investing in physical security rather than treating it as a cost center. Security finally has a seat at the table.

5. School security is an increasing concern: With ASIS about to launch its school safety standard in 2024, there is a growing emphasis on school security and safety.

Miss us at GSX? It’s not too late.

All in all, GSX 2023 was a fantastic event that saw an interest in security and safety from many different kinds of companies of all sizes. GSX 2024 has been announced as being in Orlando, Fla. next year. We’re looking forward to next year, but in the meantime, if you missed us at GSX, please get in touch.

Book a meeting with us today to talk to an expert about your security needs.

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.