At the end of May 2022, two of the industry leaders in the information and communications technology (ICT) field met in San Antonio for the first ever national summit. It was a historical joint effort for NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association) and BICSI (Building Industry Consulting Services International) who collectively have over 30,000 members, credential holders, and customers. The overarching goal for this summit was to explore the evolving integration of data and power and how it impacts electricians and diverse ICT trades.

 

The summit featured an extensive 3-day agenda, which included a great lineup of speakers. Including a keynote presentation by Daniel Burrus, a leading futurist and technology expert; ELECTRI Internationals Executive Director, Josh Bone; and national security policy strategist Dr. Robert Spalding.

 

In addition, to the amazing panel of speakers, the conference offered multiple one-hour breakout sessions that overviewed popular topics like power over ethernet (PoE), intelligent buildings, distributed antenna systems (DAS), Fiber-to-the-X (FTTx), and more.

 

Chuck Fairchild represented the Central Indiana Chapter at this conference as a speaker for the "Right Sizing Services & Areas of Integration" breakout session, which demonstrated the opportunities and services a contractor can use as they enter the low voltage market.

 

Mr. Fairchild stated "I am pleased and proud to serve on the NECA Technology Systems Integration Task Force. This first-time conference was focused on advancing the Systems Integration industry with NECA Contractors, and the peer-to-peer and vendor networking was a significant value in this right-sized event."

 

Due to the success of the summit, NECA leadership recognizes this category of work is growing and will be eager to respond accordingly. The NECA Technology Systems Integration Task Force will be making a recommendation to the Executive Committee to add the NECA-BICSI Summit to the annual calendar as NECA continues to analyze new opportunities and exchange ideas in the information and communication technology industry.

​

​