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SIA identifies megatrends for the year ahead

Image: Security Industry Association

The Security Industry Association (SIA) says it has identified and forecasted the top 10 factors which form the basis of its annual Security Megatrends report.

SIA’s 2024 Security Megatrends were selected based on fall 2023 survey data and focus group input received from hundreds of security industry business leaders, association leadership, key volunteers and speakers for the 2023 Securing New Ground (SNG) conference, which took place Oct. 17-18 in New York City.

According to the report, the largest trend affecting the security industry is artificial intelligence — so large that SIA has split AI into four components: the security of AI; AI and visual intelligence (not video surveillance); generative AI; and the regulation of AI.

In surveying SIA members as part of the research for the 2024 Security Megatrends report, 93% said they expected to see generative AI like ChatGPT make an impact on their business strategies within the next five years, and over 89% said they had AI projects active in their research and development (R&D) pipelines.  SIA has also established an AI Advisory Board comprised of industry leaders with a mission to educate its members about relevant trends, applications and regulations.

Additionally, new for 2024’s report was a section on foundational trends – trends that have become so important that they are now structural to the business of security, according to SIA. “The trends of cybersecurity, workforce development, sustainability, global tensions, the cloud model for technology delivery, changing economic conditions and supply chain assurance (some previously long recognized as Security Megatrends) are now so much part of the fabric of the world that they are viewed no longer as future-looking megatrends, but instead as common concerns that all business leaders must manage as they operate within the security industry,” stated SIA.

SIA’s 2024 Security Megatrends are:

1. AI: Security of AI
2. AI: Visual Intelligence, Not Video Surveillance
3. AI: Generative AI
4. AI: Regulation of AI
5. Expansion and Evolution of Security’s Return on Investment
6. Evolution of the Integration Business Model
7. Security as a Service
8. Impact of the Megatech Companies
9. Real Estate Reoptimization
10. IT-OT Convergence

Key stats highlighted in the report include:

• 54% of security technology firms said their public perception of some AI technologies (e.g., facial recognition) was limiting their further expansion into AI applications
• 33% of surveyed SIA members expect sustainability initiatives to make a strong impact on their business or product strategies within the next five years
• 78 million security cameras were shipped globally in 2022
• 74% of surveyed security solutions developers characterized their firms’ R&D investments as being fully, heavily or somewhat focused on AI

The Security Megatrends report is accessible via the SIA website.