Dubai, UAE: The winners of the Intersec Awards 2023 were announced last night in a gala dinner event at the Ritz Carlton, DIFC. Among the winners were Dubai Police, UAE based Atos and Protec Fire Detection from the UK, as well as individuals from Aman Security Training and NAFFCO.

 

The Awards, which recognise the people, products and companies for exceptional performance in the fire, safety and security industries across ten categories attracted almost 1300 entries.

 

The People categories reward those who challenge industry standards, are exceptionally skilled at inspiring transformation and bringing about substantial change, and who have achieved great success as industry experts in their particular field. The award for Outstanding Commitment to the Industry went to Adil Abdel-Hadi of Aman Security Training, for proactively raised the professionalism of the security industry throughout the Middle East and Africa. One way in which he achieved this was by introducing City & Guilds accredited training courses for both the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA) and the Dubai Police Academy, which have benefited over 200,000 vocational students. 

 

Speaking at the ceremony, Abdel-Hadi described his win as “Overwhelming”, adding “I am very honoured to receive it. It’s been wonderful.” He also acknowledged his fellow nominees and the organisers, referencing their “commitment and support to the industry for the past 20 years.” 

 

Other winners in the people category included Les Allan, Chairman of the Association of University Chief Security Officers who was named International Leader of the Year; while Khalid Al Khatib, CEO of NAFFCO was selected as Regional Leader of the Year and Essa Ahmed Al-Mutawa of Dubai Civil Defence has been hailed as a rising star, receiving the Young Emirati Achiever Award. Al-Mutawa said, “I feel extremely honoured to receive the award, it will help me try to think positively and to give more to my work and company,” and paid tribute to Intersec 2023, adding, “And I would like to thank everyone who works for this great event.”

 

Homeland Security product of the year went to D-Fend Solutions for its EnforceAir counter-drone technology, while OPTEX REDSCAN pro Lidar series from OPTEX Europe won Commercial and Perimeter Security product of the year. Secure Logiq was recognised for its efforts offsetting the carbon of the electronic security manufacturing sector with the trophy for Security Sustainability service of the year and the award for Cybersecurity service of the year went to Atos for the AI platform powered managed detection and response services - Alsaac.

 

Fire and Safety Sustainability Product of the year recognised the Eco Land and Eco Sea products from Detectionloop; and Fire Product of the Year was presented to Protec Cirrus HYBRID Aspirating Fire and Smoke Detector from Protec Fire Detection. Data-analytics platform chnnl, designed to help organisations create meaningful well-being and psychological safety strategies won Safety Product of the year, while a special award for Excellence in Community Service and Wellbeing was presented to Dubai Police for its Lost and Found service that takes advantage of artificial intelligence and digital technologies.

 

“Security, safety and fire protection play a vital role in the world, and the stars of the industries deserve to be celebrated,” said Alex Nicholl, show director at Messe Frankfurt Middle East. He continued, “The calibre of entries for the Intersec Awards this year was incredible, demonstrating the commitment and innovation of people and companies to driving advancement across the board. It is an honour to reward and celebrate these achievements and I send my congratulations to all of our winners.”

 

The Intersec Awards are part of Intersec 2023, currently taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 17th – 19th January. A full list of winners is available on the website.