Organization of security during major events and; emerging threats to railway security were the major themes that were discussed during the 16th UIC (Union of International Railways) World Security Congress 2021 which concluded on December 9, 2021. The Chairman of UIC Security Platform is Mr. Piotr Kurcz (PKP S.A., Poland), while the Vice Chairman is Mr. Sanjay Chander(DG, RPF, India). UIC has 194 members across 5 continents.
During the 2-day Congress, eminent speakers from countries such as India, Russia, Germany, France, Japan, South Africa, Poland, Slovakia and Ireland among others, as well as organisations like Europol participated in the deliberations.
After the welcome address by Mr. Kurcz, Mr. Chander highlighted the importance of using technological solutions while monitoring mega events for crowd monitoring and regulation, apart from imparting behavioural, emotional and motivational training to the security personnel. He called upon the participants to share similar experiences in organizing major events in their countries to enable members countries to learn from each other and try to customise best practices followed across the world. Mr. Chander brought into focus the danger of CBRN attacks as an emerging dimension of threats faced by rail systems across the globe. In addition. Mr. Chander stressed on the need to deal with changing security scenario in railway infrastructure, operations, customer interface and changes in the hinterland and prepare to deal with new challenges like cyber attacks.
Mr. B Venkateshwar Rao (RPF, India) represented Research, Design and Standardisation Organisation, the Apex Research Institution of Indian Railways. He emphasised the crucial role of technology as a game changer in countering emerging threats like Information Warfare, Cyber Crimes, Natural Disasters, especially with reference to the spread of Covid-19.
The Congress concluded with the consensus to the view that Emerging Technologies are one of the Prime Game Changers in the Evolution of the Society in the Present Times which brings great benefits but we also need to understand the Risks involved. The Security Experts understand the Security Specifics. The Key is linking the two.