In May, we had the opportunity to bring nearly 70 clients together under one roof for Nedap Client Day 2024; BeLux. And regardless of who you ask, attendee or Nedapper, they’ll tell you that the event was a win!
For our clients: It was an opportunity to meet their peers from similar industries and to discover new solutions from Nedap. For us: We were grateful to connect face-to-face once again with our trusted customers, tuning into common questions and concerns they have.
We were lucky to be able to host the event at BNP Paribas Fortis, a longtime client, in Brussels.
BNP Paribas Fortis Headquarters, Montage du Parc, Brussels
This was a first.
Although we’ve hosted Nedap Client Days before, this was the first time we were able to share the day and venue of one of our clients. Montagne du Parc, BNP Paribas Fortis’s sustainable headquarters, was a sight and experience to behold.
It was a definitive highlight of the day, and we’ve included it as such in our list of event highlights:
1. Making flexibility and sustainability a priority
The day opened with a heartfelt presentation from Loraine Beckers, Head of Customer Service in Facility Management at BNP Paribas Fortis, about the venue in which we were all sitting.
Lorain Beckers, Head of Customer Service in Facility Management, BNP Paribas Fortis
The new Montagne du Parc, in which sustainability is the key element—saw more than 98% of materials of the demolished building were recycled or reused.
We learned about the cultural heritage of the site, the methodical and deliberate decision-making about ensuring flexibility, connectivity and mobility, sustainability, and employee well-being. After all, the building wasn’t just any building.
Learn more about the project here
It should be “a building where people feel good,” according to Loraine Beckers. Truer words have never been spoken, and felt by all of us.
And so, Montagne du Parc was built as an open building that connects with its surroundings.
Green areas that are open to everyone, a shopping arcade, and a public lift to connect the upper and lower levels of the area. Truly designed to make life easier for everyone.
Impressive and humbling, to say the least!
2. Trends, trends, trends
As part of the interactive nature with our clients, we posed questions throughout the day for everyone to answer like “What trends do you see happening in the access management market?”
There were some clear opinions in the majority (i..e. AI, mobile access, cloud). Our team definitely concurred, and it’s why we believe our Access AtWork and Nedap Mobile Access offering is both timely and relevant for organisations looking to the future (today).
In particular, with mobile access, there are benefits both to the end user (the employee or visitor) and to the system administrators in your organization. Think about the hours upon hours being spent managing credentials and distributing badges. It’s something David Boterman of Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company, STIB-MIVB, thinks about…
“Our organisation is large, currently comprising more than 10,000 employees. So, scaling the management and deployment of physical badges can take up to 60% of an administrator’s day. Imagine what you could do with an extra 60% of your working day. For me, mobile access is indeed a very promising solution.”
David Boterman, Design Technician-Access Control, STIB-MIVB
Does your imagination run wild trying to picture what you’d do if someone gave you 60% of your time back?
However…
3. Prediction: Shift from biometrics to mobile access
I did take things one step further though, while on stage (that’s me, pictured above, on the far right)…
Left to Right: Peter Rommens, Sytze Loor (Event Host), and me
I took things to the next level and predicted, while on stage, that we’d see a “Shift from biometrics to mobile access.”
Why did I say this? It wasn’t to offend our network of biometrics specialists, but more as a nod to the continual changes in the security industry. With mobile access we basically have biometrics (i.e. Two-Factor Authentication) in the palm of our hands—instead of in the form of expensive, sometimes outdated, devices installed next to the door.
These innovations keep us all on our toes…keeps us sharp
Is it tiring and daunting sometimes? Yes.
But that’s what our wide circle of colleagues and peers are for…so we made sure to provide ample time to our guests for these very topics.
During one of the many networking opportunities on Nedap Client Day, we managed to have an open conversation with delegates from Stad Gent, the City of Ghent (Belgium) that also happens to be a candidate to become European Capital of Culture in 2030.
Here’s what Johan Marchand, Chief Technical Officer, Stad Gent, had to share with us:
“I agree wholeheartedly that ‘the future is now,’ especially at the speed in which new solutions are emerging. As sectech (security technology) professionals, we need to be honest about both sides of the coin on this—the good and the bad. Good technology is good, but the security issues that arise as a result could be bad. It’s important that we remain open to innovation at a pace that still ensures safety.”
Johan Marchand, Chief Technical Officer, Stad Gent
He is not alone in this belief. It’s something we’ve been hearing consistently from our circle of peers and wider network.
4. Addressing the pink elephant in the room
If you were paying attention, and I think you were, “AI” came up as an emerging trend on the survey slide above.
Wherever you are in your individual journey with AI experimentation, our Global Sales Director, Arjan Bouter, is prepared to meet you there. He said as much in his talk called “The future is now.”
He addressed AI as the proverbial (AI-generated) pink elephant in the room.
Arjan Bouter, Global Sales Director at Nedap Security Management
Now, we can all choose to take this with a grain of salt. However, all we’ll end up with is a mountain of salt! But all jokes aside, as Marc Moris, Group Prevention & Protection Lead at Proximus shared:
“I believe, as a society, that we’re well past the first wave of Artificial Intelligence. As security professionals, we should acknowledge that AI’s a game changer for physical security. It’s inevitable and it’s already happening. So, we should anticipate that the way we look at risks will be different and therefore the measures we need to implement will also be different. There’s no avoiding this.”
Marc Moris, Department Lead, Group Prevention & Protection, Proximus
This all begs the question, “Just how many waves of AI will we see, and how can AI enhance your access management experience?”
We are all ears, and would love to hear your take!
5. Applying learnings
Last, but not least, our team (Team BeLux pictured below), walked away with our learnings from Nedap Client Day.
Most importantly, we witnessed first-hand, clients from similar industries gravitating towards each other. As much synergy as there was, organically, that day, we realized that some help from us would have been welcomed—in bringing smaller groups in contact throughout the day.
But thankfully, there will be more opportunities to come (stay tuned) for sectech professionals to share their concerns and exchange insights and learnings. We plan to host more personalised events in the coming months to ensure that we continue to learn from each other!
We cannot thank our esteemed guests enough. Without them and their energy throughout the day, our efforts would have been for naught. Cheers to seeing everyone again soon.
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