With more than 20 years of experience in the electronic security industry, Pedro Duarte, Vice President of Samsung Techwin America for the region, assumes the presidency of the Latin American Security Association, ALAS, until March 2018.
By Santiago Jaramillo Hincapié
Pedro Duarte, Vice President of Samsung Techwin America for the region, will be the one who receives the baton in the presidency of the Latin American Security Association, ALAS, from the hands of Gustavo Gassmann, Director of Physical Access Control - LAM of HID Global, who was in office since 2013.
Duarte is an industry veteran with more than two decades of experience. It is worth noting that before joining Samsung Techwin in 2008, he served for nearly eight years as GM Latin America of GE Security, a subsidiary of General Electric.
Pedro Duarte will assume the position of President of the Latin American Security Association until March 2018.
Precisely to expand this particular, VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD invited the new president to an interview, in which he gave us details of his arrival at the governing body of security in Latin America.
SECURITY SALES: There are many years of experience in the industry, at the same time many successes in your professional work, why do you decide to take on the challenge of being president of the Latin American Security Association, ALAS?
PEDRO DUARTE: "Really time for me passes very quickly, it is already 20 years of which 15 I have been close to ALAS, and I believe that the time has come to reward the successes achieved in the security market, helping the Association and the industry in general also to grow in Latin America and expand its activity."
SECURITY SALES: What do you think are the reasons for your recognition in this market and that, at the same time, led you to be appointed to this important position?
PEDRO DUARTE: "I believe that the most important thing is the trust created in front of customers and end users during all this time in the security market, added to a solid process of guaranteeing technical and commercial relations with the industry in the Latin American region, which has been fundamental throughout this process."
SECURITY SALES: What is your expectation upon coming to the Latin American Security Association, ALAS, now in the role of president?
PEDRO DUARTE: "ALAS has a very great advantage to be the only Security Association in Latin America, there is no other entity that does something similar in the region, so it must be a benchmark for the security market, not only in the activities it has done until today, as is the case of training, networking, special discounts to its members in the participation in fairs, etc., but must be at the forefront of processes and standards that guarantee the high quality of the facilities that are made in the region.
Security today has a very special trend, and that is that it has become a commodity. This entails two problems, the first is that there are teams that are not so good from the point of view of quality; and the second aspect to highlight is that many times installations are made and although the equipment is of excellent quality, it is not done in the right way technically, so that is where I think ALAS can be a point of reference for end users to use us to ensure that both the equipment and the facilities are under the standards or within their expectations. "
SECURITY SALES: Tell us some strategic points on which your management as president of ALAS will focus?
PEDRO DUARTE: "We do not live on an island, Latin America is now commercially related to everyone, so we must promote the relationship with other entities such as UL, BICSI, NFPA, among others, which are very marked for our industry, determine a high quality and have a lot of respect in their concepts. From the Association we must open up more and get involved with alliances with global associations in the security industry. In this way we will achieve a high standard of respectability for the Association and all its members."
SECURITY SALES: In the specific theme of Management Summit, Technological Meetings and seducing new partners, what will be the personal stamp of Pedro Duarte?
PEDRO DUARTE: "Basically I think that success is in offering content of high value and quality, since events of this type exist everywhere, also technological meetings also several companies organize them, some for profit others as non profit (non-profit), which is the case of ALAS. The most important thing, at the end of the day, is to have a high value of practical content, which provides members or those who attend the Management Summit or the Technological Meetings the possibility of training, technological updating, networking and high recognition service, among others. In short, to offer a more serious, juicier content that becomes attractive so that members of the industry want to participate in them."
SECURITY SALES: Being well surrounded by professionals will always be an essential element for success in any activity or organization, what does your team at ALAS represent for you?
PEDRO DUARTE: "It is very important, since the Association is made with people, the Board of Directors and the Operational Team are fundamental to give life to ALAS. Something that we are implementing together with the CEO of ALAS, Alberto Álvarez, is to have a Board much more involved with functions, we do not want the work to be just to sit down and say that he is part of the Board, we want each of them to have specific tasks that really help the aggrandizement of the Association, that is why we are focused on the organization of committees led by members of the current Board of Directors, that lead us to fulfill the objective of WINGS being the navigation beacon of safety in Latin America".
SECURITY SALES: How do you see the future of the electronic security industry in terms of threats, demand, advances and application of technologies and, at the same time, possibilities for expansion and growth in Latin America?
PEDRO DUARTE: "The Latin American market will continue to expand independently of the ups and downs of each region or country. I firmly believe that security is an area of first necessity and within this perspective we cannot lose sight of the fact that the technological sophistication of the security market, especially that of urban security, is expanding [...]. Today, the prices of security equipment have become so low that they allow small and medium-sized businesses to have their own security systems, which they can access remotely from a smartphone, tablet or computer. In the same way, it is important to note that the expansion is increasingly faster thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), today you can see every day a new equipment to connect (thermostat, alarms, surveillance cameras, etc.). All this in the end is something that is created as a network in which a large volume of information is concentrated, with the aim of increasing security or delivering a little more comfort to the activity that is carried out on a day-to-day basis.
In short, the expansion will continue, it is a matter of the companies involved in the market, whether manufacturers, distributors, installers or end users, understand that this is a network in which they must know how to have participation optimally, since the need for security will always exist. "
