The 2018 World Border Security Congress (WBSC) was held in Madrid from 20 to 22 March. The WBSC is the premier international platform for bringing together leaders in border protection and management policies and professionals from the security sector to discuss the international challenges facing border protection.

The Congress was sponsored by Spain’s Minister of the Interior, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the African Union (AU-ECOSOCC), the European Association of Airport and Seaport Police, the National Security & Resilience Consortium and the International Association of CIP  Professionals.

Isdefe took part in this event and in the panel on border control surveillance systems and technology with a presentation given by the head of Intelligence and Public Safety, Jesús Alcázar, titled “Surveillance Systems and Technologies in the Border. A Systems Engineering Vision”. 

During his presentation he discussed Isdefe’s experience in this area, backed up by the services provided to the Civil Guard’s Integrated External Surveillance System (SIVE), to the National Police Force’s Automated Border Control (ABC) system, and to the Eurosur National Coordination Centre. He also noted Isdefe’s involvement in numerous EU initiatives, such as the CLOSEYE, SEAHORSE, EUCISE 2020 and EWISA projects. He finished with the lessons learned in recent years supporting the Ministry of the Interior through the State Security Office.

The event featured a large number of professionals from the sector who, over the three days, debated and discussed current and future policies pertaining to border security, technical development, implementation problems and future challenges.