In April 2016, Kenya's Education Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i, announced that universities and colleges will need to capture the biometric data of all students. This move is in the wake of the increased number of terror attacks in Kenya and will entail enhanced security measures that include the installation of metal detectors and the use of biometric registration systems.

On the back of this enhanced security awareness, the second SECUREXPO East Africa exhibition, held at the Visa Oshwal Centre in Nairobi, Kenya between 8 and 10 November 2016, was a firm success. Powell Tronics once again participated in the event and the team was suitably impressed at the calibre of visitors attending.

Mike Austen, national sales manager at Powell Tronics, says that the number of exhibitors increased from 50 in 2015 to 60 in 2016. "This is indicative of the increased exposure the exhibition has experienced since its launch in 2015. We noticed that although we had fewer visitors to our stand, the purchasing ability of these visitors was much higher than in 2015. Without a doubt, the visitors were a more focused group of people and included a number of end users and installers looking for specific project solutions. We even discussed our solutions with representatives from the governmental offices of neighbouring countries as well as the Malawi High Commission."

Austen explains that many of the companies and organisations in Kenya currently make use of products that do not have a history in the African market, but that this trend is changing. "The local market is beginning to realise the importance of deploying proven technology from r leading manufacturers and suppliers. The presence in Kenya of both Impro and Sagem Morpho, underlines the credibility that high quality access control products are gaining in Kenya."

With the presence of Morpho and Impro at the show, the collaboration between the three companies and their dedication to and investment in the Kenyan market was highlighted. "The presence of all three companies allowed the local market to see what solutions and support that we and our suppliers can bring to the party. It also provided the visitors with an opportunity to discover what projects local suppliers are involved in and how they are providing workable solutions," Austen adds.

Zulmira Ferraz, technical manager at Powell Tronics, says that while the 2015 exhibition saw a large number of visitors seeking partnerships with Powell Tronics, SECUREXPO East Africa 2016 visitors to their stand were more intent on finding specific access control solutions for their applications. PT-Rollcall in particular garnered great interest for the company from all levels of educational facilities and the installers who deal with them. This is primarily due to the accelerated drive to curb fraud in the form of an unauthorised third party attending a class or field trip, or writing an exam for another student.

A variation of the PT-Rollcall application was discussed with various parties for the upcoming national elections where there is a strong drive to minimise the fraudulent voting in other wards by implementing a mobile biometric solution that allows for both enrolment and verification at election time.

The Impro and Morpho products popularised for use with Powell Tronics' range of customised access control software solutions were also winners on the stand. Two other predominant areas of interest included time and attendance (T&A) and visitor management. The corporate market in particular, was very interested in finding out more about the entire portfolio of Powell Tronics' ATOM T&A solutions, in their drive for more accurate timekeeping of staff.

"In addition, we had numerous requests to facilitate training on access control solutions. The Kenyan market is hungry for knowledge on access control technology, which is to be expected, considering that managed electronic security is a fairly young concept in Kenya. We are investigating the possibility of undertaking half-day training courses in collaboration with Impro and Morpho, either in Kenya or at our South African training facilities," Ferraz points out.