SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Security Industry Association (SIA) has announced the schedule, speaker lineup and program for the 2026 Securing New Ground (SNG), the security industry’s executive conference, scheduled for Oct. 20-21 in New York City.
At SNG 2026, the security industry “will gather for top-level information sharing, networking and business analysis,” according to the SIA announcement.
This year’s Securing New Ground conference “will shape industry trends and offer opportunities to engage with the leaders who are driving the future of security,” the announcement says.
The 2026 program “will explore the most current issues,” including:
- The impact of artificial intelligence for systems integration;
- How CSOs can automate corporate security practices;
- What CSOs really want from vendors and integrators; and
- GSOC evolution and hyperscale data center security.
Securing New Ground 2026 will also feature continual themes, including cybersecurity, industry investments, smart buildings and evolving business models.
“The mission of SNG is always to share executive-level insights into the trends, technologies and business strategies transforming the security industry and is typically attended by executive leaders from industry along with top corporate security leaders from enterprise organizations,” the SIA announcement says.
Why Should You Attend Securing New Ground 2026?
“The 2026 SIA Securing New Ground program presents an even stronger strategic event bringing together the executives from each component of the security ecosystem to connect and discuss the marketplace, regulatory and technology factors shaping the industry,” says SIA CEO Don Erickson in the association announcement.
“The conversations that take place at SNG among peers validate or challenge business strategy, challenge conventional thinking and lead to collaborations that strengthen the industry,” he says. “SNG is quickly becoming an event is recognized as ‘the Davos of the global security industry.’”
Highlights of the 2026 Securing New Ground program include:
- A dinner keynote event featuring a conversation with John J. Sullivan, former U.S. ambassador to Russia (2019 to 2022) and author of the memoir Midnight in Moscow, sharing stories and perspectives drawn from his four-decade career spanning five U.S. presidents and senior leadership across multiple federal agencies
- A keynote presentation on economic conditions with U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief economist Curtis Dubay
- An exclusive interview with Justin Anderson, principal of Ares Privacy Equity Group, about private equity strategies related to the security industry
- A session on the customer perspective and what the industry needs to hear featuring Frank Dawson, director of operations—corporate security at Southern Company
- Executive conversations with Sean Kay, senior vice president for sales at Flock Safety; Björn Lidefelt, executive vice president and head of the global technologies business unit at HID; Kumar Sokka, CEO of Acre Security; and Michael Wong, CEO of Gene; and Billal Hammoud of Honeywell Building Automation
- The return of sessions, including the Investment Insights panel that breaks down the numbers behind industry investments, mergers and acquisitions activity, lending and private equity; and SPARCing Real Conversations: Security Practitioners Speak! hosted by SIA’s Security Practitioners Advancing Real Conversations (SPARC) community
- Three sessions diving into key Security Megatrends, one featuring executives each sharing the “one big thing” they’re watching for the future; one on what AI means for the business of integrated systems and how integrators operate; and one on where hardware goes next and hardware’s future for security applications
Executives speaking in the event program represent major industry sectors like corporate security (physical and converged), access control, video surveillance, systems integration, distribution, finance, identity and more.
In advance of Securing New Ground, SIA’s SPARC community will be meeting, and after the conference, SIA’s leadership development program The Table will be convening for its in-person presentations and sessions.
Registration for SIA members starts at $995 (a savings of $1,000 off the regular rate) for those who register by Friday, Aug. 28. Security practitioners (chief security officers, corporate security directors and their immediate teams) are invited to attend for $100. Government security leaders are provided complimentary access.
