Page 14 - the SyI Quarterly V3 digital (1)

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An Update from SyI Director Alex Yates FSyI

I hope this article finds you in good health. A general greeting message
which in today’s circumstances has never had a more profound meaning. I
genuinely hope this short update from a few of our Special Interest Groups
(SIGs) finds everybody in good health, especially during these unprecedented
and challenging times.

I find myself writing this article in a completely different location in the
country to where I expected to be living and working in April having moved
home (280 miles), changed jobs and adapted to completely new ways of
working (virtually and remotely), all accomplished during a global pandemic
with only two face-to-face meetings (adhering to social distancing of course).
I still can’t believe it when I think about it!

I achieved these significant changes during this extraordinary period of time because of the ingenuity, dedication, resilience
and tenacity shown by many people from across a multitude of business functional areas, including those from our very own
community – the security professionals. It makes me extremely proud when I reflect (from my own personal experience over the
last 4 months) - irrespective of the organisation we work for/with or the sector or industry we work in - on the contribution the
whole security community has made when tackling the challenge to adapt – quicker than they ever imagined - to new and agile
ways of working, at pace, and with a flexible and scalable mindset.

I have learnt a great deal about myself over this relatively short period too and have been immensely impressed with my
colleagues across our profession, with the ‘can do’ attitude and innovative approach over the last few months in designing,
developing, deploying and managing the effective and efficient integration of protective security measures through tactical,
operational and strategic collaboration across all three security dimensions (physical, personnel and people and cyber security) to
meet the ever-changing and complex operating environment we find ourselves immersed in at present.

I hope we don’t forget the fantastic achievements we have made in such a short space of time so far in 2020, and we continue
to work together to share our knowledge and experiences to ensure ‘security’ continues to be seen as a key enabler to meet our
everyday political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental needs.

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