LAS VEGAS, NV., 3 October 2019— BICSI, the association advancing the information and communications technology (ICT) community as a global leader in ICT education, certification and standards, held its annual Fall Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada. ICT professionals from all over the world traveled to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center for the premier ICT infrastructure and technology event of the season.

BICSI President Jeff Beavers, RCDD, OSP, officially opened the conference Tuesday morning. In his opening remarks, he highlighted conference activities and noted some of BICSI's latest product releases, as well as milestone accomplishments achieved in 2019. Highlights included:

• a complete update to the Data Center Design Consultant™(DCDC™) Program consisting of a new course, two standards, a specialty manual and an exam;
• a new pocket-sized field guide for copper cabling;
• the creation of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region;
• the launch of a new Global Mentorship Program;
• and the completion of BICSI Project Refresh – the modernization of the BICSI World Headquarters and the expansion of the BICSI Learning Academy in Tampa, Florida.

Following Beaver’s opening remarks was an enlightening Opening Keynote Panel moderated by physical and cyber security solution expert, Steve Surfaro, who is the Chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Public Safety Working Group and Co-Chair of ASIS International’s Security Applied Sciences Council.  The panel focused on how to lead in the smart/safe/connected city revolution and consisted of diverse executive professionals with experience deploying advanced technologies in ICT smart city categories such as public safety, transportation, education and artificial intelligence.  Panelists included Lisa Falzone, CEO and Co-Founder of Athena Security; Anson Fong, Chief Information Security Officer for Los Angeles World Airports; and Mark Jules, Global Vice President at Hitachi Vantara Corporation. The panelists discussed a range of topics from insights and abilities to choices and challenges on technology, infrastructure, connected devices and sensors, artificial intelligence, automation and more.

Conference General Sessions that followed included presentations on Optimizing Intelligent Building Infrastructure, Wired and Wireless AV Collaboration, Deploy PoE Anywhere and Everywhere, 5G and Next-Gen Wireless Networks, Edge Data Centers, Smart Healthcare Facility Infrastructure, Digital Building Strategies and Applications for Hospitality, Digital Lighting Design and PoE, Building the Single-Pair Ethernet Ecosystem, Tracking Life Safety from Design to Implementation and many more.

Attendee feedback included Philip Janeway, RCDD, JDH Contracting, Indianapolis, IN, who said, “I was impressed with the Opening Session. There was an excellent keynote panel presentation that gave us detailed information about artificial intelligence using the latest technology infrastructures. It was really informative, providing insights on how today’s security providers use cutting-edge technology.”

The Exhibit Hall was full of activity as 123 exhibitors added excellent value to the conference by showcasing technical products, services and solutions and afforded attendees the opportunity to experience first-hand the new developments and technology trends in the ICT industry.  What’s New, What’s It Do? presentations were a crowd favorite as attendees stopped by the BICSI Theater on the Exhibit Floor to watch participating exhibitors give five-minute segments on their newest products and services. Networking opportunities spanned the entire event and included a Women in BICSI Fall Networking Breakfast.

The Conference & Exhibition continued Wednesday with concurrent sessions and concluded Thursday with more technical presentations.  BICSI Cares, the charitable arm of BICSI that supports children’s charities, donated to Jeremy’s Thoughtful Thermal Foundation, whose goal is to make a child smile while getting treatments for childhood diseases by giving them a thermal lunch box stuffed with snacks and goodies. BICSI Cares collected donations from attendees throughout the conference, and 100 percent of the funds were given to the charity. 

The Closing Keynote address was delivered by Phill Nosworthy, founder of Switch L+D. In his keynote address, Nosworthy shared techniques technical leaders can use to unlock dormant potential in themselves and others while creating impactful experiences to transform team performance and achieve outstanding results. Nosworthy works with Fortune 500 companies and is known for taking already high performing teams to exceptional levels of growth, performance and fulfillment.

BICSI President Jeff Beavers, RCDD, OSP, CFHP, adjourned the conference and thanked everyone for attending and encouraged them to attend upcoming BICSI conferences including BICSI Winter Conference & Exhibition being held 9-13 February 2020 in Tampa, FL and the BICSI Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Conference & Exhibition being held 13-15 April 2020 in Dubai, UAE.

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About BICSI

BICSI is a professional association supporting the advancement of the information and communications technology (ICT) community and currently serves approximately 26,000 memberships and credentials. BICSI is the preeminent global resource for ICT credentials, standards, knowledge transfer and career development.

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, USA, BICSI membership spans nearly 100 countries.

Contact: John Bechtold,  jbechtold@bicsi.org, +1 813.979.1991