BERLIN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Germany's leading trade fair for civil security, the biannual Security Essen opened its doors on Tuesday. This year's fair in the German city of Essen is focusing on digital security which is presented in a separate exhibition hall for the first time.
"The trends are clearly moving towards digitalization. Especially smart home applications are one of the most central topics here," Anke Sepp, press spokeswoman of the German security technology association (BHE) told Xinhua at the fair. It is necessary to protect such digitized technologies from unwanted external access, added Sepp.
Suppliers of electronic security technologies expect a significant increase in turnover in 2018. According to BHE figures published in September, the industry is looking at a growth rate of five percent. After annual increases of more than 12 percent over the past two years, a new turnover record of almost 4.4 billion euros (5.2 billion U.S. dollars) could be achieved this year.
However, the outlook for the private security sector as a whole is dampening the euphoria slightly, according to the numbers by the German association of the security industry (BDSW). After a decline in sales by four percent in 2017, the industry is slowly growing again. So far, industry experts have registered an increase in revenues of one percent in 2018.
"The extremely growth-intensive years 2015 and 2016, with an increase in sales of over 40 percent, were not good for the industry as a whole," said member of the board, Harald Olschok, at a press conference in advance of the Security Essen 2018 trade fair.
Classic security applications such as alarm systems, safety glass and alarm guns still play a major role at the trade fair. "These security technologies will continue to exist. It is not always solely about digitization," BHE spokeswoman Sepp told Xinhua. However, digitization would play a role in every aspect of the security branch in the future.
In spite of rising turnover figures, Sepp addresses a lack of awareness for safety technologies in the German society. German citizens could do more to improve their homes' safety, however, many of them would not recognize the necessity or think that there is nothing worth stealing in their homes.
"The burglar does not know that. Besides that, there are tablets, smartphones or flat screens in every house. So, there's always enough to get for criminals," Sepp added.
