Southern Miss Center on Sports Security Conducts Assessment for National Firm
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 01:23pm | By: Van Arnold
When looking for the best method to test their EventSecure software, officials at e-VERIFILE.COM, Inc., sought assistance from the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4) at The University of Southern Mississippi.
“When reviewing safety and security online, I came in contact with some articles that NCS4 produced and they were well written and thought-out,” said Devon Wijesinghe, chief strategy officer at e-VERIFILE. “I followed up with the center and developed a relationship in which it made sense for us to be a candidate for their lab process.”
That process involved a full day of evaluation and assessment in the center's National Laboratory last October. Center officials assembled a cross-section of security experts to grade the EventSecure program based upon requirements and criteria established by e-VERIFILE executives.
“The system received a very favorable rating across the board from the end users we had performing the evaluations,” said Steve Miller, director, Systems Integration at NCS4. “It's not our job at the center to determine whether or not a company's product is viable. Part of our mission is to provide the best possible platform for testing and evaluation.”
Miller notes that three other companies have gone through the center's full assessment report procedure and two others opted for a more condensed version of the report.
E-VERIFILE, with headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., specializes in developing and delivering fast, Web-powered innovative risk assessment solutions and support systems for organizations all over the world, including background checks, online training and security credentialing.
Wijesinghe said the NCS4 assessment report yielded valuable feedback from actual end users who were reviewing the system in real time. Additionally, Wijesinghe said he learned a lot more about the intricacy of sports stadium security.
“I learned how detailed a sports venue security operator really is and the reason they need to be is because lives depend on them,” he said. “The work being done at NCS4 is very important due to the ever-increasing homeland security threat we face. There is no place that has more people in confined spaces than a sports stadium.”
Established in 2006, The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security was created to provide an interdisciplinary academic environment to further increase sport security awareness, improve sport security policies and procedures and enhance emergency response through evacuation, recovery operations and crowd management training.
For more information about NCS4 or to see how the lab assessment report works call 601.266.6183 or visit www.ncs4.com