Security
Before the 1990s, security matters had been taken care of either by citizens or the government. After the 1990s, the sector developed a segment of private services that began to grow rapidly. In this section, we focus specifically on that segment, not considering national and military security and protection of citizens from crime.
Human life is becoming ever more comfortable and long-lasting. However, new threats are emerging, such as man-made and environmental disasters, new types of weapons, and cyber attacks. This raises the topicality of security issues. Advancement in information technology will lead to enhanced capabilities in security and personal protection, bringing about changes in security standards in virtual worlds as well as in real life. Fewer and fewer security functions will be entrusted to humans, while more will be entrusted to smart systems of monitoring, analysis and automatic control.
Advanced security systems will require new methods of legislative control, professional standards, and technical regulations. More independent companies will appear with large numbers of specialists qualified in risk management. Demand will emerge for services to assess and design personal security in various conditions. For example, a person will be able to consult a security specialist before going to a jungle or a metropolis with high crime rates.
In the increasingly complex and volatile world, various personal security devices will gain wide acceptance. For example, there are already bicycle helmets with sensors able to respond to an accident and send a signal to the emergency ward, jackets with built-in radio stations and GPS navigators for mountain climbers and micro pepper-spray cans for iPhones. Also, technical means will be designed to enhance the professional capabilities of security service specialists, such as sandals with extendable flippers for beach lifeguards, or exoskeletons for firefighters. Moreover, people will receive help from robots, such as the swimming robot Seascout that can track a drowning person by GPS.
In the distant future, security systems will become proactive, eliminating the potential causes of emergency before it happens. For example, a special system will analyze street camera footage in real time and recognize the signs of unlawful actions. In 2014, Knightscope produced robots for patrolling city streets. They are programmed to notice unusual behavior of people and vehicles and notify the control centre accordingly. They are equipped with sensors to recognize smells and measure temperature. In addition, they can memorize up to 300 license plates in a minute, thereby contributing to traffic control. In the future, they will help minimize violations in the physical world, while surveillance systems will promptly identify any offender.
At the same time, the development of artificial intelligence and the ubiquitous application of automated control systems may lead to those systems becoming too complicated for a human being to understand, or to users becoming excessively dependent on them. This, in turn, may pose a serious threat if a programme malfunctions or decides to act on its own. This is why in the future, the development of security systems will involve designing means of protection against AI malfunction and alternative rescue plans if computers become impossible to use.
Professions
Business continuity manager
This specialist ensures the continuity of business processes in case of any problems or IT system failures at a facility caused by cyber attacks, software errors, man-made disasters affecting Internet connection, or other emergencies.
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Professional skills and abilities
Ergonomic designer of wearable security devices
Specialist engaged in developing gadgets for the additional security of the user in an emergency. The job requires a smooth combination of common sense and imagination, as self-protection issues may be approached from different directions. For example, Armstar has designed the protective sleeve BodyGuard, equipped with a camera, alarm device, and an electric shocker. It will help the wearer protect himself, while designed to not inflict lethal wounds on a perpetrator. South Korea has invented an even milder option, i.e. a jacket equipped with mini cameras. In case of an assault, it takes photos of the attacker and publishes photos in the Internet, so that the criminal will not be able to conceal his identity.
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Personal security designer
Specialist tasked with assessing and designing the life of a person in terms of all possible risks (from genetic disposition to specific diseases to the chance of becoming a crime victim) and their prevention. The specialist may be hired as a staff consultant or to provide one-time services, e.g. if a client is going on a business trip to a dangerous region.
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Expert for mitigating systemic environmental disasters
Engineer who deals with time-delayed disasters, which people become aware of gradually, e.g. pollution around large industrial centres, the Pacific plastic dump, the thawing permafrost, radioactive dumps, etc. The engineer is tasked with designing and implementing plans to mitigate such disasters and prevent them from happening again. Aside from the usual environmental problems, such as global warming and deforestation, new threats are emerging, which humankind became concerned with only recently. For example, a large garbage patch was discovered in the Pacific Ocean in 1997. Because of oceanic currents, an area, which, according to various estimates, takes up between 0.7 and 15 million square kilometres, is littered with over 100 million tons of garbage. Most of the garbage consists of fine pieces of plastic that may be toxic and are eaten by fish or jellyfish. To handle such types of threats, we need highly qualified specialists able to make decisions under uncertainty.
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Remote security coordinator
Operator of advanced automated robotic security systems.Responsible for monitoring their condition via sensors and surveillance cameras and dispatching an immediate response team to a facility if needed. The occupation is an evolution of the security guard job and will be eventually completely replaced with automated security systems.
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Integrated industrial security auditor
Specialist in assessing the state of security at an existing facility and monitoring all types of threats such as mechanical damage, fire, environmental threats, cyber attacks, etc.
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