Nesta Working Paper 15/01
Issued: January 2015
Keywords: Technology policy, security science,  digital social science

Abstract

There is a voluminous and significant body of academic literature on security, encompassing a range of emphases and points of departure. Much of this body of work is mainly concerned with the size, sectorial composition and growth of the commercial security industry and the multitude of security products offered. And, indeed with a global market for security and service estimated at £45 billion a year with a predictable further stellar growth, there is some grounded reason to study the key features of such a global market.

This paper is a contribution to that academic literature dedicated to the analysis of the local and global markets of security. Its specific focus though is upon a neglected part of that literature: the international security trade fairs and exhibitions. The aim of the paper is twofold: first, to assemble and coordinate research materials in order to track the historical and spatial evolution of these international security trade fairs and exhibitions and secondly, to show how these places are pivotal in the dissemination of not only tools and high tech security technologies but also in the propagation of a particular mind-set of the consumption of security commodities.

Authors

James Alexander and Emmanuel-Pierre Guittet, University of Manchester

The Nesta Working Paper Series is intended to make available early results of research undertaken or supported by Nesta and its partners in order to elicit comments and suggestions for revisions and to encourage discussion and further debate prior to publication (ISSN 2050-9820). The views expressed in this working paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of Nesta.