The most successful Adria Security Summit Powered by Intersec has closed its doors in Ljubljana. Behind them, it left a trail of record-breaking figures in all categories: with its 150 exhibitors, 2800 guests from 43 countries, and 5000 held meetings, the Summit confirmed its position as a leading regional event for the exchange of knowledge, innovation, and business opportunities in the world of security and sectors based on it.
As visitation numbers can sometimes sound dry, let’s start the story of this year’s Summit with an anecdote that we opened this year’s event with a four-legged robot and a dragon. The robotic guard dog was the messenger of the future of the industry that we are dedicated to, while we adopted the Ljubljana Dragon, the symbol of this city, as the informal mascot of this year’s Summit. From the robodog, we borrowed the symbolism of loyalty to the idea of promoting security, while the Dragon was the source of strength to turn that loyalty into an extremely successful event whose statistical records are backed by an organization supported by rich experience and the largest turnout of guests from all over the world.
In Prestigious Company: Among the Security 50 Elite and Premier Regional Exhibitors
We proudly hosted no fewer than 150 exhibitors at this year’s Adria Security Summit, marking the largest number of participants ever. More importantly, it also includes 10 security companies from the prestigious Security 50 list of the world’s best market players (Hikvision, ASSA ABLOY, Nedap, Suprema, ZK Teco, Uniview, Avigilon by Motorola Solutions, etc.), as well as the cream of the crop in regional companies such as Alarm automatika, Akoda +, CreaPlus, Eccos Inženjering, Tenzor, Systeh, TRS, and others. This impressive figure confirms the growing reputation and importance of our event in the security industry and beyond. Among the participants, we would like to especially thank the sponsors, which number 180 companies, including the diamond (Alarm automatica, Konica Minolta), platinum (A koda plus, Ateis Europe, Bosch Security and Safety Systems, CREAPlus, Monitoreal, Nedap Security Management, Suprema Europe, Teksel , ZKTeco Europe), and gold sponsors (Advancis, ASSA ABLOY, Hikvision, Kaspersky, Avigilon by Motorola Solutions, PRIANTO, Qognify, Ruijie Networks, SALTO Systems, Spica Group, Stelkom, Tenzor, TecnoAlarm, Ultravision Consult, Zarja elektronika).
A regional event with global impact and record-breaking attendance
We cannot conclude the story of statistics without the inevitable numbers, and this year they once again served as an illustration of the fact that this year’s Summit with a record 2,800 guests from 43 countries recorded a 12% increase in the number of visitors compared to the high 2,500 from last year’s gathering in Zagreb. It is important to note that almost 17% of them came from outside the region, which leads to the conclusion that the Summit has quietly outgrown its regional uniform and dressed in a new international outfit. Thus, the Gospodarsko Razštavišče venue opened its door to guests with travel documents from Great Britain, the United States of America, Cyprus, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, China, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Norway, Canada, Romania, Israel, France, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Ukraine, Hungary, Greece, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Finland and Taiwan.
This by no means suggests that the already traditionally good response of regional visitors is something to be glossed over because the Summit still proudly carries the word “Adria” as its seal of recognizability. In this segment, the structure of guests clearly reflects the regional recognition of the Summit and the expressed interest of the participants to use it as a bridge for establishing cooperation with the rest of the world. The largest number of guests comes from Croatia and the host country Slovenia, with shares of 22.23% and 20.71% respectively. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and North Macedonia are also significantly represented, with 12.28%, 17.57%, and 8.66%. Although with a slightly smaller share in relation to the number of inhabitants, Montenegro was well represented at the event with 2.30% of guests, which shows that the commitment to the development of the security industry has nothing to do with the country’s population size or the square kilometers in the atlas.
Almost 40% of the participants are the highest-ranked company representatives
Adria Security Summit 2023 proved to be a rock-solid axis for connecting professionals from different sectors, with a dynamic structure of participants that emphasizes the event’s inclusive approach to security and related industries. As an illustration, let us cite the fact that again this year the Summit served as a versatile platform for business networking on the spot, with a record 5,000 meetings held. This year’s Summit was attended by an impressive 38.06% of senior management representatives and executives, which is an indication of the attractiveness of the event among the highest decision-makers in the security sector and related industries. Regional or national sales and distribution executives, managers, and staff made up a significant 21.58% of attendees. The “technical” segment of the profession at the Summit was not neglected either, with 17.83% of participants representing engineers, experts, and developers. The middle level of management, which consists of managers of key clients, projects, and business development, made up 15.68% of those present.
The summit as a mirror of industry evolution: The rise of cyber security
Adria Security Summit as a concept was developed from the beginning as a dynamic mirror of industrial trends which, among other things, are reflected in the representation of participants with the entire range of products and verticals from which they come. Video surveillance solutions continue to hold a prominent place at the Summit, with 18.03% of the exhibition space dedicated to them. Unsurprisingly, video surveillance is followed by cyber security solutions (10.19% of exhibitors), which is a reconfirmation of the Summit’s role as a messenger of the industry trends, which, today, puts an increasing focus on protecting digital assets and systems from cyber threats. Another surprise at the Summit was the high representation (10.61%) of fire alarms, smoke, and gas warning equipment, and solutions for fire protection and evacuation. This category has shown the all-time relevance of dedication to fire protection and the need for the best possible response to emergencies that follow people practically from the moment the first fire is lit.
Access control and time & attendance systems, with their 8.20% representation, had standard good visibility, and together with anti-burglary and accompanying alarm systems (9.52%), they make up an important piece of the security pie that industry representatives still rely on today. This spectrum is closed by mechanical security (4.21%) and perimeter protection systems (5.32%), which are indicators of the permanent importance of the combination of “old-school” technical security and new technological solutions for everyone who is looking for a holistic approach to the protection of life and property at the Summit.
Other significant sectors include smart homes and cities and automation solutions (6.80%) which are equally represented by the IT/ICT industry (7.71%) as a relatively new but nowadays inevitable part of the security, IT, and communication landscapes of modern living and business. Finally, many verticals collectively covered 9.49% of the exhibition segment and they include communications and transportation, manufacturing, construction and architecture, retail and distribution, banking/finance, hospitality, education, oil and gas, healthcare, mobility, the housing sector, and pharmacy. The diversity of these verticals is indicative of the growing security needs in each of them, positioning Summit as a key platform within which these professionals can easily explore and find solutions to their business challenges and dilemmas.
Ahead of Sarajevo 2024 Event
With a range of topics and case studies, the Adria Security Summit 2023 left guests and participants with plenty of topics to think about, which they will ultimately easily “melt” into actionable items in their business strategies. The event in Ljubljana completed a cycle in which the Summit managed to establish itself as a central place for the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and technological achievements in the security and other sectors. Before returning to Sarajevo, the place where the Adria Security Summit took its first steps on the way to becoming the largest regional industrial event of its type back in 2015, the organizers face the important but also sweet challenge of surpassing everything achieved so far, and to the satisfaction of all participants without which this road to success would be longer and thornier. Until we meet in Sarajevo in 2024, let the Adria Security Summit 2023 remain the most-read chapter in the story of the success of our industrial event and its audience.
