Taking critical infrastructure security to the next level
Sibelga is the distribution system operator for electricity and natural gas in Brussels. Learn how the team made massive strides in securing offices, warehouses, data rooms, and technical sites as well as their electricity and gas distribution network.
The company
Sibelga is the distribution system operator for electricity and natural gas, serving 19 municipalities within the Brussels capital region in Belgium. The company employs over 1,000 people who are committed to supplying more than 500,000 households and businesses with these critical energy sources. Securing people, assets, and operations at all 50 sites is a must for Sibelga.
The challenge
The Sibelga physical security team has been using Omnicast™, the video management system from Genetec since 2010. More recently, they decided to expand their physical security deployment. They wanted to bring all their physical security systems including video, access control, intrusion, intercom, and other solutions into one centralized and unified solution. This would help broaden visibility across their environment and enhance processes to meet the latest compliance requirements.
The solution
Physical security in one platform
Today, the physical security team has been working more efficiently. Security staff manage video surveillance, access control system, intercom, and a third-party intrusion detection system all from one intuitive interface.
Vehicle and perimeter security
The team at Sibelga also uses the AutoVu™ automatic license plate recognition system within Security Center to manage access to several parking lots and track vehicle traffic across sites.
Enhance NIS2 compliance
“In terms of the requirements of NIS2, we're well prepared for the future with Genetec. We have already taken the necessary steps to comply with the directive and are pleased with the progress,” said Van den Bogaert.
Open to new technologies
Looking ahead, the team plans to make a switch from traditional access control cards to smartphone credentials. Having an open and flexible platform ensures that they can keep implementing new technologies as needed.
"With Genetec Security Center, we can continue to evolve with the security landscape. All of our physical security plans are feasible within the open, unified security platform.”
Jurgen Van den Bogaert, Physical Security Manager at Sibelga
Results
After issuing a public tender, the team chose to work with their systems integrator, Securitas, who proposed Genetec Security Center and a few other Genetec solutions. Today, Van den Bogaert manages a 10-person surveillance team. They work closely with control room operators from Securitas who monitor intrusion incidents around the clock. They also work alongside in-house technical control room operators who continuously check the status of the electricity and gas network and monitor fire detection alarms.
According to Van den Bogaert, investing in an open and unified platform has many benefits: “The big advantage of Genetec Security Center is that this physical security platform integrates and unifies all of the physical security elements. Many other platforms only offer separate components. In addition, Genetec is an open platform which means we are not tied to any specific manufacturers or hardware. In the future, we will be looking at implementing electric locks. We have freedom of choice because Genetec Security Center can integrate with electric locks from many different manufacturers.”