Interview: George Moawad, Genetec

How has Australia coped with COVID-induced changes to operations and workplaces?

It’s been amazing to see how organisations have leveraged the power of science and technology to navigate many of the challenges COVID-19 posed, both in the security industry and across wider business and public sector organisations — most notably the medical industry. In fact, many of the innovative solutions Genetec created to help organisations navigate new business practices and regulatory requirements came from a direct collaboration between our customers and our developers. Customers told us the problem that they needed to solve and then our developers were able to update existing tools so they could be put to new uses. For example, we created a new Occupancy Management Package to make it easy for retailers and other similar businesses to ensure they operate within local guidelines for occupancy density.

Will things go back to a ‘new’ normal in 2022?

From a security industry perspective, the disruption to the public and private sectors has given many organisations the impetus to take a step back and think about what their new playbook for security in the future might look like. There’s a great opportunity for security to become much more aligned with business operations and transition from a necessary and separate ‘defence’ function to help drive operational insights, efficiencies and performance — and the time is right as many businesses are reimagining operations as hybrid and mobile ways of working are becoming normalised. Pre-pandemic we were already seeing the merging of physical and cybersecurity and this trend has been turbo-charged as cybercriminals have taken advantage of the vulnerabilities. We’ll also see many more solutions addressing biological risk be added into the physical, cyber and digital risk mix.

What is the major potential tech pain point that will face all organisations large and small in 2022?

For many organisations in 2022, the changes coming to the Critical Infrastructure Bill will cause several pain points within the sectors soon to be included in its remit. For example, if you’re in the food and grocery sector, your physical and cybersecurity planning would have looked a lot different in 2020 than it does now and businesses will have to scramble to make sure they are compliant. Changes will have to be made across both technology and organisational process, which will mean significant challenges — all of them for the potential of the greater good.

How can I.T. have a greater impact on organisational efficiency in 2022, and who (CEOs, CIOs) should lead the charge?

From where we are standing, it’s clear that technology decisions are no longer solely in the remit of traditional IT departments and CIOs as they often underpin whole-of-business operations. This is a positive move as it means organisations are moving out of a silo mentality when it comes to critical investments in technology; however, it does mean that the lifecycle for decision-making has extended as multiple conversations with multiple stakeholders have to take place. Ultimately, CEOs are going to be the gatekeepers and enablers of organisational efficiency but IT teams have a real opportunity to make an impact if they can move from their traditional swim lane to embrace a more agile, business-orientated approach.

George Moawad joined Genetec in May 2018 and is responsible for leading business growth and nurturing expanding market opportunities for the company in the region. He has over 22 years of experience in the security industry and holds an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business.