Security technology expos, procurement realities and strategic barriers for developing-economy state-owned enterprises
Keywords:
Security technology exhibitions; CPSE; procurement governance; state-owned enterprises; developing economies; surveillance technology; South AfricaAbstract
Security technology exhibitions are promoted as gateways to innovation, knowledge transfer and vendor relationships. For developing-economy state-owned enterprises (SOEs), however, the value of these expos is more complicated than the marketing narrative suggests. Drawing on field observations from the China Public Safety Expo (CPSE) 2025, comparative analysis of major international security exhibitions and documentary review of South African procurement and security-governance sources, this article examines whether security expos produce operational value or mainly reproduce vendor spectacle. The analysis finds that expos do create real value by exposing security practitioners to emerging technologies, vendor ecosystems and global design trends. That value is nevertheless constrained by procurement rules, weak local support ecosystems, language and documentation barriers, technology-life-cycle uncertainty and geopolitical concerns around surveillance infrastructure. The paper argues that developing-economy SOEs should treat expos as structured intelligence-gathering platforms rather than direct procurement channels. It proposes a disciplined expo-to-implementation framework built around pre-attendance objectives, post-expo validation, local partner assessment, life-cycle support review and governance assurance.
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