Witness, if you will, 50 years of security art and science collapsed into the post 9/11 decade. When the dot com era burst, many venture dollars were looking for a place to work. 9/11, sadly, happened and was followed by many changes, including the creation of DHS and the promises to “inspect every bag at airports,” which led to the venture capital and curious question: Inspect them with what? The need rose, the money poured in. Innovation followed.
“What’s 9/11?” my 7-year-old recently asked me. I had not planned on having that discussion yet. But I did. I told both of my daughters about the events of that day 10 years ago, placing special emphasis on the positive as I explained a very negative situation. Most importantly, I stressed to them how much more aware we are today, although it took a horrendous event in our nation’s history to get there.
"When I was growing up in New Jersey, going to the World Trade Center was a school trip,” I said to Lou Barani. “And it will be again,” he replied with enthusiasm and a smile as we walked through the 9/11 Museum, which is in the midst of construction and scheduled to open in 2012. Once it’s complete, expectations are for more than 1,500 visitors each hour.
Who would have thought that if we put on an international terror trial in Chicago with a cast of bad guys, including a self-confessed two-timing spy, secret documents, a shady Chicago businessman and testimony of alleged involvement by Pakistani ex-military officers in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 170 people including six U.S. citizens, who would have figured that no one would show up for the trial?
