Under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Hamdan, the Minister of Public Works and President of the Higher Committee for UAE Civil Seaports and Airports Security, and the UAE Ministry of Defense
, INEGMA is holding the first edition of the Border Control & Airport & Seaport Security Conference – BCASS at the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai, UAE (13-14 December 2010).
BCASS was attended by a crowd of political and military leaders, diplomats, and industry, from the UAE, the Gulf and abroad. Among them: H.E. Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum and Sheikh Salem bin Sultan Al Qassemi.
Major General Khamis bin Hasher Al Mehrezi from the UAE Ministry of Defense stated that: "Modern technologies have recently played an effective and very important role in detecting threats, defining them, tracking them, tackling them and preserving security. Yet cooperation and coordination on both national and international levels is equally important." He added: "The real challenge is that our adversaries whether they are terrorists, identity thieves, pirates, smugglers, and criminals are smarter than the ones we dealt with in the past. Some of them are very skillful at making use of COTS (commercial off-the shelf) advanced technologies, and sometimes better than those who own it. In many cases they were able to neutralize these technologies or render them ineffective and consequently evaded detection. This is a challenge of course. It has to be addressed by industrialists who are requested to continuously develop these technologies." He affirmed that: "Sharing information is the most sensitive issue since some countries associate it with sovereignty, and that it needs trusts which is not always easy to build."
The Keynote Speech was delivered by Mr. Saif Mohammad Al Zoabi, from the Higher Committee for UAE Civil Seaports and Airports Security on behalf of H.E Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan who stated that the UAE is pursuing a wise strategy leading to several achievements in all areas. He added: "This strategy is succeeding thanks to God and thanks to the interest and support of the UAE leadership headed by H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and their brothers in the Supreme Council and rulers of the Emirates.
The First Plenary Session was chaired by General (R'td) Khaled Al Bu-Ainnain, the UAE Air force and Air Defense Commander and INEGMA President. Brig. Pilot Ahmad Mohammad Bin Thani, Director General of the General Department of Airports Security at the Dubai Police delivered a presentation on "The Role of Technological Developments in Strengthening Security in National Airports." observation, checkpoints, and patrols with C2 systems.
The Second Plenary Session was chaired by Dr. Theodore Karasik, Director of Research and Development at INEGMA. Dr. Khaled al Mazrouei, General Manager of the Fujairah International Airport, and looked at "Optimizing Cost-Effective Technologies to Build First-Class Security Infrastructure."
The Third Plenary Session of the first day was chaired by Riad Kahwaji, INEGMA CEO. Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Acting Director General at the Federal Customs Authority in the UAE, explored "Developing a National Standard for Future Customs Regulations."
