Angus Darroch-Warren CSyP, a board director of The Security Institute, is the director of The Knowledge Centre at the institute. He writes ahead of the institute’s launch of The Knowledge Centre on July 31.
The Knowledge Centre is a key research and professional development resource for members wishing to increase their knowledge base on specific security subject subjects and an essential tool to support the studies of student members. It provides members with information such as research papers, articles, dissertations and links to websites and other resources.
It is recognised that ‘security’ covers a broad and diverse set of specialisms relating to “protection of people, information and other assets through the prevention, elimination and mitigation of risks and threats”. This includes intelligence gathering, research and information technology. The Knowledge Centre will therefore be structured around the following 16 categories, reflecting the parameters and scope of contemporary security practice:
Business Management
Business Resilience
Counter Terrorism
Counter Fraud
Crime & Criminology
Critical National Infrastructure
Defence & International Security
Governance & Compliance
Information Security
Investigations
IT & Cyber Security
Law & Legislation
Personnel Security
Physical Security
Security Professionalism; and
Security Risk Management
These categories will provide a framework for the development of the new Research Directorate and its services, as well as providing new learning resources for the Institute’s vocational courses. The Knowledge Centre will be launched in phases, (more information on this at a later date) and much like any learning platform it will be continuously developed as additional information is added or existing material or web links are updated.
Phase 1 (31 July): Launch of the 16 front pages, providing the opportunity for the membership to see how the website is structured, including documents under the following headings:
∙ Useful websites
∙ Published Academic and Research Sources
∙ Theses and Dissertations
∙ Government and Organisational Reports
∙ Legislation, Standards and Guidelines
∙ Editorials and Commentaries
∙ Additional Resources
The Knowledge Centre is a key project of the Security Institute’s new Research Directorate comprising Dr Alison Wakefield (Head, Internal and External Research), Jerry Woods CSyP (Good Practice Guides), Mike Gillespie (Cyber Research/Strategy) and Angus Darroch-Warren (Knowledge Centre). It fits both with the objectives of the Institute and the Register of Chartered Security Professionals with regard to education of the membership and the sector as a whole. In particular those studying for the SyI Certificate and Diploma, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students at the various universities and colleges, will benefit from a centralised information resource.
The Knowledge Centre provides exciting additional benefit to your membership, particular our student members, and will demonstrate the expertise that we hold within our membership. It also represents one of the first efforts by the security profession internationally to define what constitutes security in the new millennium and convey this to you our members and the wider security community.
Volunteer?
A number of ‘champions’ from among the membership have been identified and appointed to lead each of the categories and we are still looking for members to become involved in this exciting project. Many of the “champions” have completed, or are undertaking, doctoral level research in their area of expertise, and will be in a position to communicate their knowledge of key information resources to the membership.
Future development will see each category, headed by its appointed ‘Champion’, broken down into sub-categories and further web pages, matching the above structure. These may be specific to an industry (eg. oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, financial services) or form a subset within an existing section (eg. Physical Security may require separate sections on detection systems, CCTV or access control).
Management of a category is not considered to be onerous and represents an ideal opportunity for members to contribute to an Institute project, particularly those who are unable to participate in other events and activities or who are based internationally. It offers the opportunity to gain valuable CPD points under “other contributions” without the cost of travel.
If you are interested in becoming involved with this project, contact Helen Corbett, the Security Institute’s Senior Administrator on 08453 707717 or [email protected]
Visit: www.security-institute.org
