Implications of ‘Smart Buildings’ for Security Folks

Security officials need to be familiar with trends in the design of “smart buildings,” which integrate all sorts of electronic systems. A good primer on the subject is this SecurityInfoWatch article “Smart Buildings, Take Two.”

“An intelligent building,” the article advises, “starts with an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network that can combine networks that carry building information systems, with the one that carries voice and data. Collapsing both platforms into one makes it possible to manage all information systems in a building – or in a group of buildings – via a centralised control room, therefore saving on manpower and capital costs.”

An integrated approach like this surely has implications for security – who will be manning the control room, for instance? Whose manpower and costs will be reduced, to what end? It will likely pay to be smart about smart buildings from a security standpoint.