Avnet Memec Techdays: Securing your Future

Avnet Memec starts in Milan with a new season of technical seminars dedicated to the protection of data and know-how in the era of the Internet of Things

Milan, October 2014 – The second edition of Techdays, a series of itinerant thematic seminars organised by Avnet Memec all over Europe, was held in Milan. Taking its cue from the previous series, focusing on the Internet of Things, this second edition deals with the theme of data and intellectual property security, an increasingly important topic, in particular with the spread of new IoT products offering greater openness and connectivity.

"The aim of these Techdays– said Raffaele Giglio, Country Manager Italy&Greece Avnet Memec – is to illustrate to our audience from all over Europe how Avnet Memec and its partners are able to offer not only excellent products but also the best competences to deal with security in terms of manufacturing, services and logistics".

In an increasingly complex application context, security requires state-of-the-art standards and solutions offering the customer the right level of protection, i.e. comprehensive without being excessive.  

This is the concept underlined by Philippe Frémont – Deputy Chairman of Avnet Memec – when he opened the seminar: "Security – he said – is not an objective criterion but the result of a compromise between risks and consequences: the higher the value of what you wish to protect and the greater the probability of attack, the more important it is to invest. IoT objects are everywhere in our daily lives and it is important not to underestimate the security of even the simplest products, which often control vital functions”. 

"To meet the market demand– continued Frémont – Avnet is strengthening its offer, proposing new partners and new solutions that guarantee the same level of security as credit cards, also in industrial applications. However, the fragmentation of this market requires targeted specialist technologies , which can be studied and selected only by distribution organisations like Avnet Memec".

The increasingly global context promoted by the advent of the IoT brings with it many opportunities but also considerable risks.  User data can be protected by specific products and technologies, but the growing dangers of counterfeiting  are profoundly affecting OEM business models, entailing new risk assessment problems.

In the light of the above, for some time now Avnet has been offering a series of solutions targeted at protecting the intellectual property and know-how at the basis of customer return on investment. This has involved the selection of devices dedicated to security in terms of hardware, and identification of specialist services geared to component programming, logistical protection and product traceability. These products and services are conceived by Avnet Memec to increase the security of the manufacturing processes, minimising exposure of the most sensitive applications  to the risk of copying or counterfeiting.

"What the Techdays show– concluded Frémont – is that  parallel to the increase in the risk factor, Avnet Memec is improving accessibility to the technologies and logistical services geared to security, simultaneously reducing costs ".

The Milan Techday – in which many customers and sector operators took part – featured talks by the Avnet Memec experts  and many of its partners, including Maxim Integrated, Microsemi, Echelon, Wyless, Safran Morpho, Trusted Objects and the Research Centre CEA-Leti. After this first Italian leg, the tour will continue in the coming weeks in France and Spain, concluding in Holland in February 2015.

About Avnet Memec
Avnet Memec, a business unit of Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA, is a highly specialised semiconductor distributor, operating on a pan-European basis and employing a significant number of engineers to support customers’ design efforts. Avnet Memec specialises in highly innovative suppliers and technologies, which will help a variety of customers to differentiate their designs. Its area of specialisation extends from Analog and Microcontrollers to RF, Datacom and Networking. The business unit operates out of 31 offices in 19 European countries and represents major semiconductor franchises on a pan-European basis. www.avnet-memec.eu