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It is an enormous pleasure to be able to reflect on another year of extraordinary successes for the Security Institute, as we continue to
Chairman’s Welcome
expand significantly in our membership numbers, scope and influence. Our organisational mission is ‘to inspire, inform and influence
professional excellence for the benefit of our members, the security community and wider society’, and this annual report provides an
overview of our areas of activity and key achievements in pursuit of these objectives over the 2019-20 financial year, and key priorities
for the year ahead.
The period concluded with the global outbreak of COVID-19 and national lockdowns, which have had considerable implications
for our members both personally and professionally, and for the delivery of the Institute’s services. It has been a period of great
sacrifice for many of our members, staff and volunteers who have suffered illness or loss of loved ones, braved the increased health
risks to themselves and their families in working on the front line, experienced job losses or a loss of income due to furlough,
faced separation from close family members, or had to postpone important life events. In the Institute we have done our utmost to
support our members and the wider sector where we can in recognising and responding to these challenges, and adapting to a new
landscape requiring much more emphasis on online services, and it has been an illuminating journey for us all.
The Institute has long been proud to have members all over the world who gain benefit from membership without necessarily
having the opportunity to attend our physical events, yet the global pandemic has required us to take ‘virtual’ membership and the
delivery of online services to a new level, in ways that are certain to continue long after the current challenges are over. As our HQ
team adjusted to remote working, they also quickly sought to master the new technologies that would enable us to move most of
our provision online. Our new activities and services have ranged from one-off webinars, training sessions and social gatherings, to
additional online professional resources, discounted courses, and our 12-week CPD challenge, promoting continuing professional
development during the lockdown.
One of the great successes has been our online Chartered Security Professional application workshops, demystifying the assessment
process and introducing participants to the requirements of effective applications. Worth joining whether you feel ready to begin the
process or just want to start thinking towards applying in the coming years, they have been so popular through the lockdown that we
have been hosting them on a weekly basis. At the other end of the spectrum of new services, our informal Friday coffee mornings
have brought people together over lighter themes such as book reviews, thanks to Rick and volunteers from among our membership.
Most recently, the launch of a new online community platform, available in the members-only section of our website, has provided
members with an invaluable new tool for networking with other members. This now sits alongside our professional development
platform, mentoring platform and jobs board as part of a widening package of online services for members.
The Security Institute’s thought leadership capability is growing rapidly through the establishment of an increasing variety of Special
Interest Groups, now facilitated through dedicated sections of the community platform to enable communications and file-sharing.
Especially close to my heart is the new Inclusive Security Special Interest Group (ISSIG), which was launched online on 30 July. We
see the Group as having the potential to promote the sharing of good practice in equality, diversity and inclusion and drive positive
change, not only in the Institute but also the wider security sector. The work that has been going into the planning of the Group
proved timely following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in the US in May, the global protests that ensued, and the
increased spotlight that this has placed on matters of equality, diversity and inclusion throughout society and particularly with respect
to race and ethnicity.
The Institute has given increasing priority to such essential values over recent years with, for example, our Next Generation in Security
initiative to promote security as a career of choice to young people now having run for two years. It is delivered through partnerships
with the Volunteer Police Cadets, which actively engage young people from diverse backgrounds, and the EY Foundation, which
seeks to help young people who have been eligible for free school meals. We have run successful events organised by and for
younger members, created a reduced fee membership category for retired members, and in March ran our first event celebrating
women in security, when the Cyber and Convergence SIG hosted a successful ‘Women in Cyber’ event. Notably, the work we do in
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