Smart Cities

Dedrone, the provider of smart airspace security, successfully implements a citywide airspace security deployment in Southern Europe. Dedrone protects people, property, and information from drone threats across large footprint areas like cities, airports, and power plants. A major metropolitan city in Southern Europe has deployed less than a dozen DedroneSensors to detect, track and locate drones and their pilots across the city center. The protected area includes internationally renowned tourist destinations, corporate and shopping districts, residential areas, and a port encompassing 50 square kilometers. Airspace security solution The high-security stakes for cities to protect civilians and infrastructure against unauthorized drones prompted Dedrone to develop a citywide capable airspace security solution for urban environments to offer law enforcement and local governments best-in-class drone protection. This citywide deployment follows short-term installations in European capital cities, including Berlin. Cities of the future are embracing the integration of drones for productive uses including deliveries" The Dedrone Southern European city installation was launched in November 2020, revealing between 120-200 alerts of unauthorized drone activity per day and a 60% increase of unauthorized drone activity over the last six months. “Cities of the future are embracing the integration of drones for productive uses including deliveries, inspections, and public safety, while also considering how to manage traffic and differentiate between authorized and unauthorized drones or even malicious drones,” shares Aaditya Devarakonda, CEO of Dedrone. Access airspace intelligence “With public safety as our highest priority, Dedrone’s smart airspace security for cities allows local government and law enforcement to comprehensively monitor their airspace of all drone activity, including higher risk areas like critical infrastructure sites, airports, correctional facilities, and high-traffic pedestrian areas.” Dedrone collaborates with local governments to develop a centralized, smart airspace security network that monitors cooperative and non-cooperative drone traffic. Dedrone’s Airspace Security-as-a-Service model enables local governments to access airspace intelligence and insights as a utility across the monitored area. Dedrone smart city offering will continue to roll out to additional cities in Europe and the U.S. in 2021 and 2022. Critical drone activity DedroneTracker fuses data from a network of sensors, using an AI/Machine Learning platform To enable cities to achieve smart airspace security, DedroneTracker fuses data from a network of sensors, using an AI/Machine Learning platform to produce critical drone activity information and situational awareness for law enforcement and security personnel guarding large public arenas. In February 2021, Dedrone announced their Remote ID offering, enabling customers to automatically receive both U.S. and EU Remote ID data through DedroneTracker as Remote ID regulations go into effect. Nearly 300 drones are currently in the Dedrone database and can be detected regardless of their cooperation with local Remote ID or other drone data broadcasting systems. Dedrone offers an open platform enabling a layered-approach implementation with a single pane of glass view. Dedrone supports dozens of approved integrations including sensors, Command & Control (C2) systems, alerting solutions, Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) systems, and mitigation technologies so organizations can use best-in-class technologies to meet individual site needs and easily integrate into their existing security infrastructure.

AnyVision announced today that the company will change its name to Oosto. The new name reflects the company’s evolution and vision for the future which is shaped, in part, by a new collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) CyLab Biometric Research Center. The CMU partnership will focus on early-stage research in object, body, and behavior recognition. Vision AI Oosto CEO, Avi Golan remarks, "Historically, the company has focused on security-related use cases for our watchlist alerting and touchless access control solutions. With the launch of Oosto, we’re looking beyond the lens of security to include ways our solutions can positively impact an organization’s safety, productivity and customer experience.” AnyVision pioneered Vision AI to automate watchlist alerting, identifying security risks as well as valuable customers in real-time to personalize customer experiences and enhance physical security. The rebranded Oosto will leverage the power of Vision AI to enhance the safety of customers, guests, and employees. Solutions include touchless access control, video analytics, and new flavors of video-based recognition (object, body, and behavioral recognition), which deliver the insights and alerts to protect pivotal stakeholders from bad actors and security threats. Partnership with CyLab Biometric Research Center The company’s research partnership with Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) CyLab Biometric Research Center will focus on advanced object classification and behavior recognition algorithms for commercial use cases. This collaboration will help Oosto address a broad range of safety-related use cases, including object detection (e.g., weapons on school grounds) and behavioral analysis (e.g., when someone falls down). As part of the partnership, Marios Savvides, a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and founder and director of the Biometrics Center at CMU, will join Oosto as the Chief AI Scientist to expand Oosto’s AI team led by CTO, Dieter Joecker. “We were impressed by Oosto's commitment to the fair and ethical use of the technology, preserving user privacy, and creating safer spaces for everyone,” said Professor Marios Savvides. “These shared values make Oosto an ideal research partner for CMU to advance object, body, and behavioral recognition and to positively impact our collective safety.” Long histoy in artificial intelligence Over the past 10 years, more than 400 startups linked to CMU have raised more than $7 billion in funding. CMU has a long history in artificial intelligence including the creation of the first AI computer program in 1956 and pioneering work in self-driving cars, facial recognition, and natural language processing. ECE Professor Marios Savvides was named one of the “2020 Outstanding Contributors to AI” awards from the former U.S. Secretary of the Army. His research has been focused on developing core AI and machine-learning algorithms that were successfully applied for robust face detection, face recognition, iris biometrics, and most recently, general object detection and scene understanding. Savvides has generated over 35 patents and patent publications, and over 50 unpublished patent applications to date. "Under the leadership of Prof. Savvides, CMU’s CyLab Biometric Research Center has an impressive track record of successfully transferring AI research out of a lab environment and into reliable and scalable solutions," added Golan. "Visual intelligence is in its infancy and there is so much more work yet to be done. With this partnership, we now have an elite U.S.-based AI research center that will work in concert with our existing AI teams to accelerate the development of advanced deep learning algorithms and exploration of new safety-related use cases, markets, and industries, including medical, payments, and smart cities.” As part of these corporate rebranding efforts, the company is also renaming its products to OnWatch (formerly A Better Tomorrow), OnAccess (formerly Abraxas), and OnPatrol.

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has announced the 2021 agenda and speaker lineup for Securing New Ground (SNG), the security industry’s executive conference, taking place on Oct. 28 as a virtual event. At SNG 2021, the security industry will gather for top-quality information sharing, networking, and business analysis. 2021’s Securing New Ground conference will drive industry trends and offer opportunities to connect directly with the leaders who are setting the tone for the future of security. Program line-up The virtual program will explore the most current issues like cybersecurity and the health care supply chain and securing smart buildings, share chief information officer and chief technology officer perspectives on the technology horizon, share investment insights for the security industry and drive new connections through engaging virtual roundtable discussions. The user can learn more, including details on the agenda, speakers, sponsors, and registration, in SIA's official press release. SIA is happy to assist by facilitating interviews and/or quotes or providing additional details to help customize the coverage of this event.

Hanwha Techwin, a global security solution provider, and Azena, an IoT platform provider, have announced a collaboration with KT Corp, Korea’s largest telecommunications provider, to provide AI video analytics solutions to the Korean market. AI video analytics apps from Azena’s marketplace that run on Hanwha Techwin cameras will enable Korean cities, businesses, and organizations to leverage the latest AI technology for security, safety, and beyond. Adopting AI analytics A new generation of smart cameras from Hanwha Techwin will run the operating system from Azena. Users of these devices can download and install apps in minutes from the nearly 100 apps in Azena’s Application Store, the world’s largest open platform for AI smart camera apps. By making these solutions available in Korea, Hanwha Techwin and Azena fast-track the adoption of edge AI analytics in that market. KT Corp will provide a 5G MEC platform to support both a 5G network for enhanced wireless connections and hybrid computing services for back-end AI processes that require high computing capacity. “Expanding our presence into Korea with our partners taps into a market already progressive and mature in their use of AI technology,” said Hartmut Schaper, chief executive officer, Azena. “We are looking forward to working with not only Hanwha Techwin and KT Corp but also the Korean community of edge AI application developers.” Seamless hardware-software integration Cameras from Hanwha Techwin are globally recognized for quality and are in use all around the world. Models will integrate seamlessly with the apps from the Azena Application Store. Cameras can operate in the same user customisable way due to the open architecture and ecosystem from Azena This makes the new models more valuable in a range of uses as customers can at any time add or change functionality — from traditional security and safety use cases to apps that enhance operational intelligence or drive automation and other process improvements — all while using the same hardware, much like a smartphone. Cameras can operate in the same user-customizable way due to the open architecture and ecosystem from Azena. Benefits of an open platform approach “We are cultivating a flexible landscape to benefit all. App developers can rely on best-in-class hardware, and system integrators can select best-in-class apps from Azena’s app market to provide a custom solution to end-users,” said KiChul Kim, Head of Sales & Marketing at Hanwha Techwin Headquarters and Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA®) Board Member. The open platform approach from Azena and Hanwha Techwin decouples software from hardware. KT Corp’s 5G MEC platform enables flexible deployment and provides highly scalable hybrid computing resources while reducing the TCO and lead time. This allows KT Corp’s customers to harness technological advancements in edge AI video analytics as they become available in the future.   “I believe that Hanwha Techwin and the Azena AI application platform powered by KT Corp 5G MEC technology allow us to make state of the art AI technology with 5G MEC available to a wide range of businesses and organizations across Korea,” said Yoonsung Park, Leader of 5G MEC TF at KT Corp.

Delta, a provider of power and thermal management solutions, announces its board of directors has approved the purchase of 100% of the shares in Infinova (Canada) Ltd., owner of Canadian-based video surveillance and business intelligence pioneer March Networks® from Infinova International Ltd. for USD 114 million (approximately NTD 3,163,500 thousand) through its subsidiary Delta International Holding Limited B.V. The deal is expected to strengthen Delta's presence in the growing video surveillance market and complement its building automation solutions. Video surveillance technologies Ping Cheng, Delta's Chief Executive Officer, said, "Security being an integral element of smart cities is boosting the global demand for video surveillance technologies. March Networks is a proven leader in providing end-to-end solutions to some of the world's leading financial institutions, retailers, transit agencies, and commercial customers.” Security being an integral element of smart cities is boosting the global demand for video surveillance" “We are confident that the collaboration between March Networks and Delta will expand our overall market opportunity and increase Delta's exposure to the growing video market beyond our surveillance subsidiary VIVOTEK. March Networks' cloud-based video solutions and business intelligence technologies set it apart and are also a perfect fit with our commitment to developing smart green solutions for a sustainable future." Aggressive growth plans March Networks President and CEO, Peter Strom, said, "Delta's financial strength and scale – with around $10 billion USD in annual revenues, over 80,000 employees, and deep M&A capability – will serve as an ideal platform for March Networks to accelerate its strategic plan of offering cloud-based video surveillance-as-a-service (VSaaS) and video-based business intelligence solutions to enterprises worldwide." He added that March Networks' customers and partners should expect no change to the high-quality products and services they've come to expect from March Networks as it embarks on its aggressive growth plans. Following the closing of the transaction, it is expected that March Networks will continue to operate from its Canadian headquarters, and the March Networks executive management team will continue to lead the organization.

PSA, the consortium of professional systems integrators, announces the addition of viisights to its approved technology partners. viisights adds behavioral recognition systems for real-time video intelligence to the PSA offerings. “PSA is excited to be able to offer such an in-depth and advanced AI service to our integrators,” said Chris Salazar-Mangrum, PSA’s vice president of technology partners. Video surveillance systems “viisights is providing a technology that takes video surveillance to the next level and allows our integrators to advance their clients’ video analytics results. Our partnership with viisights is an example of how we aim to elevate the industries we serve through our relationships with industry-leading products and solution providers.” viisights is providing a technology that takes video surveillance to the next level" viisights developed technology that allows video surveillance systems to provide information on what subjects in the captured video feed are doing. Its system analyses real-time data to determine unique information for behavioral results of objects. These results assist in reviewing past and harmful activity as well as help to predict potential risks and hazards. viisights’ products and solutions have been utilized in a wide variety of markets such as smart cities, transportation hubs, enterprise and educational campuses, critical infrastructures and banking and financial sectors. Affordable video analytics “Partnering with PSA is a very important step to expand and establish our US presence,” said Pat Aiello, viisights’ Vice President of sales and business development in North America. “With PSA, we will quickly introduce to the market highly advanced, complete, and affordable video analytics for helping with daily security, safety, and environmental challenges.” A benchmark in video intelligence, viisights' behavioral analytics provide systems integrators with a new and unique selling proposition for existing and potential customers that will lead to business growth. viisights personnel will be at ISC East in November to discuss these opportunities in one-on-one meetings with potential technology partners and systems integrators. Video intelligence systems viisights leverages artificial intelligence to facilitate human-like pattern prediction" The company offers extensive support for integrators including project registration, price protection to protect and secure bids, engineering, design, and implementation support, installation documentation and setup tools, training and certification for technical staff, application consulting for specialized projects, software demo licenses, and more. “viisights leverages artificial intelligence to facilitate human-like pattern prediction, creating fully autonomous video intelligence systems,” said Asaf Birenzvieg, CEO at viisights. “We go further than simple object recognition by analyzing full-motion video for objects and their behavior in the context that they operate in. Our real-time behavioral analytics transform video streams into actionable insights by autonomously recognizing behaviors that demand immediate attention, allowing customers to be more proactive.” Protecting public privacy In this first phase, viisights will be offering PSA integrators to resell its flagship product, viisights wise, which is sold for on-premises configuration. Later in 2022, viisights is planning to release wise fully as a SaaS product. It is important to note that viisights technology protects public privacy by only analyzing general behavior patterns of individuals, groups, vehicles, and traffic-flows. It does not identify faces or license plates.

The COVID-19 pandemic is only accelerating the expansion of Automation, Robotics, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and changing how people live their daily lives. This expansion leads the way with technologies that are developed to solve problems, improve operations, streamline processes and assist people, to focus on learning new skills, creativity, and imagination. Transformation of the physical security industry One of the latest industries to be permanently transformed is physical security. The era of utilizing security cameras is slowly changing into more advanced and more efficient technological applications - security robotic solutions. SMP Robotics is a California-based company, which is a pioneer in developing robotic technologies, powered by AI, to assist, improve and deliver on new expectations in today’s world. One of their services is smart surveillance systems. This represents a proactive approach to security. The company, SMP Robotics’ Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Leo Ryzhenko, stated “Autonomous robotic technologies will become a driving force in future security solutions.” Robotics and AI in autonomous security solutions The robots can patrol 24/7, counteracting intrusion and communicating via voice message with guards The company uses robotics and AI technology to implement autonomous security solutions, which reduce liability and overhead, as well as improving the quality of services. Robotic guards are capable of patrolling all types of facilities, in both urban and rural contexts. The robots can patrol 24/7, counteracting intrusion and communicating via voice message with guards. The inspection robots, deployed by SMP Robotics, are easily integrated with many existing security technologies, armed with obstacle avoidance and anti-collision measures, automatically recharge, and can recognize faces up to 50 meters. As the world grows increasingly complex, technology like this is essential to ensure safety for all. AI-enabled autonomous video monitoring ground vehicles The advancements in technological breakthroughs of SMP Robotics position the company and its AI-powered, autonomous video monitoring ground vehicles, to be the most adaptable to any industry, cost-effective for clients’ business needs, in providing various types of services from public safety, crime prevention, to asset protection and physical security. SMP Robotics continues to implement new innovative solutions and groundbreaking technologies in its latest generation of autonomous models. Currently, many were already deployed or in a process to be delivered to a number of key clients, in various industries throughout the globe, from oil & gas, nuclear power plants to data centers, healthcare facilities, and amusement parks. Smart security robots Tal Turner, the Vice President (VP) of Business Development and Partnerships, SMP Robotics, said “We provide autonomous, artificial intelligence, all-weather, all-surface, smart security robots that are turnkey and operate independently on their own, using real-time obstacle avoidance, face recognition, and other cutting-edge technological advancements.” According to Coherent Market Insights, the Robots as a Service (RaaS) market direction will grow by 15.9% by 2028 and reach the threshold of 41.3 billion dollars. SMP Robotics stands at the forefront of the security robotic revolution, making an impactful change to make the world a safer place.

Today, we live in a technology-obsessed age. Whichever way you look, it’s hard to avoid the increasing number applications, products and solutions that continue to redefine the boundaries of what we previously thought possible. From autonomous vehicles and edge computing to 5G and the Internet of Things, all facets of our lives are continuing to evolve, thanks to an endless stream of differentiated innovations. In this article, we’ll be focusing on the latter of these - the Internet of Things (IoT). Deployment of IoT technologies Smart homes, smart utilities, smart retail, smart farming, smart supply chains and many of the other ‘smart’ versions of sectors that we’re already familiar with, are all called as such because of the implications of IoT. Indeed, it is a technology that has manifested itself in billions of devices, which today underpin the truly transformational levels of connectivity that we see across industries of all shapes and sizes. The statistics speak for themselves. According to Statista, over US$ 1 trillion is expected to be spent on IoT technology worldwide, in 2022. Be it added convenience, efficiency, productivity or intelligence, many benefits are poised to emerge from this spike in IoT-related activities. Yet to say this digital transition is going to be entirely positive would be naïve. Threats faced by smart cities It is said that by 2040, 65 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities Let’s consider smart cities. It is said that by 2040, 65 per cent of the world’s population will be living in cities. To accommodate such an influx, without facing significant logistical issues, with limited space and infrastructure, policy makers have begun to recognize that these urban environments need to become not only larger, but smarter as well. As a result, the global smart cities market is on the rise. Statista states that, globally, technology spending on smart city initiatives is expected to double from US$ 81 billion in 2018 to US$ 189.5 billion in 2023. Threat of attackers with expanding IoT landscape The challenge here is that such a stark uptick will drastically expand the IoT landscape, presenting more opportunities than ever to threat actors. As connectivity and computing power is distributed more widely across large-scale outdoor networks, hackers will scale-up their own operations in tandem. According to a Nokia report from October 2020 (based on data aggregated from monitoring network traffic on more than 150 million devices globally), IoT devices now account for roughly 33 per cent of all infected devices, up from the 16 per cent estimated in 2019. What’s more concerning is how these figures are translating into real world events. 2021 alone has already witnessed an attack on a water plant in Oldsmart, Florida, which was designed to poison residents’ drinking water. Furthermore, Colonial Pipeline, one of the largest fuel pipelines in the US was also hacked, earlier this year, resulting in major shortages across the country’s East Coast. Security through IoT authentication From weak password protection, a lack of regular patch updates and insecure interfaces, to insufficient data protection, poor IoT devices management and an IoT skills gap, there are plenty of weaknesses existing within the IoT ecosystem, which continue to provide open goals for attackers. To defend against such lethal threats, security-by-design and open standards should be the guiding principles of IoT, working to prioritize security, interoperability and robust, internet-based protocols to mitigate risks. Device authentication and encryption A sound place to start is to make device authentication and encryption the central pillars of your IoT security architecture A sound place to start, in this regard, is to make device authentication and encryption the central pillars of your IoT security architecture. The goal is to be able to prove that each and every device joining a network is not malicious, with tell-tale signs being rogue code, for example. By ensuring each device is uniquely identifiable with digital certificates and therefore, properly authenticated when joining a network, you can ensure no tampered devices are able to infiltrate your overarching network. Using technologies, such as Hardware Secure Element Critically, passwords should be avoided altogether, these vulnerable to being stolen and cracked. And, while a similar vulnerability lies in the fact that all secure devices contain a private key, you can leverage technologies, such as Hardware Secure Element (a chip designed specifically to protect against unauthorized access, even if the attacker has physical access to the device), as an extra layer of defense. Digital certificates are not the only option available in protecting those IoT devices that, if tampered with, could become the cause of physical threats. Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) can also be used to prevent tampering. Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) Through Physical Unclonable Function (PUF), a form of IoT device fingerprint is developed from the unique make up of a piece of silicon, which can be used to create a unique cryptographic key. Unlike digital certificates, a secure infrastructure can be achieved through PUF, without the need for any additional hardware, as the key is not only stored securely, but it also becomes invisible to hackers, when the device is not running. The importance of encryption Use of AES encryption within radio chips, to scramble messages on the move, is the method adopted at Wi-SUN Alliance Now, let’s turn attentions to encryption. The use of AES encryption within radio chips, to scramble messages on the move, is the method that we have adopted here at Wi-SUN Alliance. It’s a means of maximizing data security, but also reducing power consumption in the devices themselves. Beyond AES encryption, it’s also worth considering topography at the design stage. Indeed, mesh networks are advantageous for several reasons. They are more reliable, allowing data to be re-routed, should devices lose contact unexpectedly. Transmissions usually travel shorter distances, which improves power efficiency and performance, and frequency hopping functionality prevents attackers from jamming signals, which could deny the service altogether. Open standards and interoperability But where do open, interoperable standards fit in? As is defined by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), interoperability enables a computer program to communicate and exchange information with other computer programs, allowing all programs to use that information. Open standards then allow any vendor of communications equipment or services to implement all standards necessary, to interoperate with other vendors. This is incredibly useful from a security perspective. It means that all specs are stress-tested and verified by many users, and that any vulnerabilities are quickly detected, and remediated, enhancing security and reliability. Need for open standards Equally, open standards can accelerate time-to-market, reduce costs and ensure products are usable, with a variety of manufacturers’ processors and radios, with a steam of publicly available protocol stacks, design information and reference implementations available that can help build and future-proof secure products. Indeed, large-scale corporate IoT networks alongside smart cities, smart utilities, and other key smart infrastructure will only continue to evolve, in the coming years. With the immense threats of attackers in mind, these systems must prioritize security-by-design, both now and in the future.

The evolution of smart video technology continues at pace. As in many other industries, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic expedited timelines and the artificial intelligence (AI) video world is continuing its rapid evolution in 2021. As video demand and the use of AI to make sense of the visual data increase, the number of cameras and subsequent data produced are growing rapidly, and these are forcing the creation of new edge architectures. Cameras and AI in traffic management ‘Smart factories’ can leverage AI to detect flaws or deviations in the production line in real time In addition, a new generation of ‘smart’ use cases has developed. For example, in ‘smart cities’, cameras and AI analyze traffic patterns and adjust traffic lights, in order to improve vehicle flow, reduce congestion and pollution, and increase pedestrian safety. ‘Smart factories’ can leverage AI to detect flaws or deviations in the production line in real time, adjusting to reduce errors and implement effective quality assurance measures. As a result, costs can be greatly reduced through automation and earlier fault detection. Evolution of smart video The evolution of smart video is also happening alongside other technological and data infrastructure advancements, such as 5G. As these technologies come together, they’re impacting how we architect the edge. And, they’re driving a demand for specialized storage. Listed below are some of the biggest trends that we’re seeing: Greater volume means greater quality The volume and variety of cameras continue to increase with each new advancement, bringing new capabilities. Having more cameras allow more to be seen and captured. This could mean having more coverage or more angles. It also means more real-time video can be captured and used to train AI.  Quality also continues to improve with higher resolutions (4K video and above) Quality also continues to improve with higher resolutions (4K video and above). The more detailed the video, the more insights can be extracted from it. And, the more effective the AI algorithms can become. In addition, new cameras transmit not just one video stream, but also additional low-bitrate streams used for low-bandwidth monitoring and AI pattern matching. Smart cameras operate 24/7 Whether used for traffic management, security or manufacturing, many of these smart cameras operate 24/7, 365 days a year, which poses a unique challenge. Storage technology must be able to keep up. For one thing, storage has evolved to deliver high-performance data transfer speeds and data writing speeds, to ensure high quality video capture. And, actual on-camera storage technology must deliver longevity and reliability, critical to any workflow. Real world context is vital to understanding endpoints Whether used for business, in scientific research or in our personal lives, we’re seeing new types of cameras that can capture new types of data. With the potential benefits of utilizing and analyzing this data, the importance of reliable data storage has never been more apparent. Considering context when designing storage technology As we design storage technology, we must take the context into consideration, such as location and form factor. We need to think of the accessibility of cameras (or lack thereof), are they atop a tall building or maybe amid a remote jungle? Such locations might also need to withstand extreme temperature variations. All of these possibilities need to be taken into account, so as to ensure long-lasting, reliable continuous recording of critical video data.  Chipsets are improving artificial intelligence (AI) capability Improved compute capabilities in cameras means processing happens at the device level, enabling real-time decisions at the edge. New camera chipsets deliver enhanced AI capability We’re seeing new chipsets arrive for cameras that deliver improved AI capability, and more advanced chipsets add deep neural network processing for on-camera deep learning analytics. AI keeps getting smarter and more capable.  Cloud must support deep learning technology Just as camera and recorder chipsets are coming with more compute power, in today’s smart video solutions most of the video analytics and deep learning is still done with discrete video analytics appliances or in the Cloud. To support these new AI workloads, the Cloud has gone through some transformation. Neural network processors within the Cloud have adopted the use of massive GPU clusters or custom FPGAs. They’re being fed thousands of hours of training video, and petabytes of data. These workloads depend on the high-capacity capabilities of enterprise-class hard drives (HDDs), which can already support 20TB per drive and high-performance enterprise SSD flash devices, platforms or arrays.  Reliance on the network Wired and wireless internet have enabled the scalability and ease of installation that has fueled the explosive adoption of security cameras, but it could only do so where LAN and WAN infrastructures already exist. 5G technology aids camera installations Emerging cameras that are 5G-ready are being designed to load and run 3rd party applications 5G removes many barriers to deployment, allowing expansive options for placement and ease of installation of cameras at a metropolitan level. With this ease of deployment comes new greater scalability, which drives use cases and further advancements in both camera and cloud design. For example, cameras can now be standalone, with direct connectivity to a centralized cloud, as they’re no longer dependent on a local network. Emerging cameras that are 5G-ready are being designed to load and run 3rd party applications, which can bring broader capabilities. Yet with greater autonomy, these cameras will need even more dynamic storage. They will require new combinations of endurance, capacity, performance, and power efficiency, to be able to optimally handle the variability of new app-driven functions. Paving the way for the edge storage revolution It’s a brave new world for smart video, and it is as complex as it is exciting. Architectural changes are being made to handle new workloads and prepare for even more dynamic capabilities at the edge and at end points. At the same time, deep learning analytics continue to evolve at the back end and the Cloud. Understanding workload changes, whether at the camera, recorder, or the Cloud level, is critical to ensuring that new architectural changes are augmented by continuous innovation in storage technology.

The trend of video customers moving to the cloud has reached a tipping point. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is being adopted on a massive scale. Combining the two trends adds a higher level of value than either component individually. Merging the power of AI and the cloud is a driving force behind cloud surveillance company Eagle Eye Networks’ acquisition of Uncanny Vision, an AI and video analytics company headquartered in Bangalore, India. Expensive AI resources Cloud systems empower customers to leverage AI without having to install and program complicated and expensive hardware, in effect stripping away the barriers to entry that customers face when seeking to embrace AI. The cloud also enables customers to share expensive AI resources. One of the key components is ease of deployment – click, click and turn on the AI for any camera" Simplicity of implementation is crucial to the combined value proposition of Eagle Eye Networks and Uncanny Vision. “One of the key components is ease of deployment – click, click and turn on the AI for any camera (in a cloud system),” says Dean Drako, Eagle Eye Networks CEO. There is also a benefit of having AI systems networked, enabling 25 banks to perform facial recognition of customers from a single cloud-based system, he adds. A transition is also under way in the perception of AI. Video surveillance applications While previously it was seen as an add-on to surveillance systems, now it is seen as a very desirable feature on any system. “Centralized management of the cloud benefits the AI database,” says Drako. “In a project built around license plate recognition (LPR), for example, all the data goes up to the cloud into a single database, and the customer can get a mobile view of everything going on across the world. You can’t do that without the cloud. And AI for LPR is more accurate.” Uncanny Vision’s targeted focus on AI for video surveillance applications was one factor that attracted Eagle Eye Networks to make the acquisition, says Drako. In contrast, some other companies have embraced broader applications of video AI. Uncanny Vision also has more customers using their system in real-world applications than competitors. Finally, the acquisition will help to expand Eagle Eye Networks’ presence in the LPR market, where Uncanny Vision is especially strong. Improving business operations The 60 employees at Uncanny Vision are mostly engineers and programmers Uncanny Vision’s deep learning algorithms enable recognition, identification, and prediction, improving business operations, customer service, and site safety. Applications include smart parking, retail, smart cities, ATM monitoring, worker safety and perimeter security. The 60 employees at Uncanny Vision are mostly engineers and programmers. “These guys understand how to translate AI algorithms to run very efficiently on various types of hardware,” says Drako. “They optimize how they get the code to run so we can implement in the cloud cost-effectively. They do it at a modest cost to make it more accessible. They understand how to deploy software for high performance on low-cost hardware.” For Uncanny Vision, the new ownership provides more reach. “We have a huge channel and a huge brand,” says Drako. “They are strong technical guys who need a sales and solution channel.” Video analytics solutions Even in light of the acquisition, Eagle Eye Networks will continue to provide a selection of third-party AI and video analytics solutions to customers. Use of AI and video analytics is specific to the application and business needs of each customer. Use of AI and video analytics is specific to the application and business needs of each customer In addition to AI functionality, systems need a ‘business logic’ component that drives how that capability is integrated into a system. System needs vary widely by vertical market, and many third-party vendors are focused on a specific vertical and how AI can benefit that market. Recurring monthly revenue “Third parties can provide analytics and the business logic, which is different for a factory, an office building or for a drive-thru restaurant,” says Drako. “The market is looking for many solutions, and one company couldn’t own a majority of them.” To ensure flexibility, Eagle Eye Networks will accommodate third party solutions, deploy their own analytics, or leverage analytics embedded in cameras. For Eagle Eye Networks’ dealer and integrator customers, the expansion into AI presents a new opportunity for recurring monthly revenue (RMR) and provides greater value to customers. Drako says the impact of the acquisition will be global as AI applications grow in popularity worldwide.

A new generation of video cameras is poised to boost capabilities dramatically at the edge of the IP network, including more powerful artificial intelligence (AI) and higher resolutions, and paving the way for new applications that would have previously been too expensive or complex. Technologies at the heart of the coming new generation of video cameras are Ambarella’s newest systems on chips (SoCs). Ambarella’s CV5S and CV52S product families are bringing a new level of on-camera AI performance and integration to multi-imager and single-imager IP cameras. Both of these SoCs are manufactured in the ‘5 nm’ manufacturing process, bringing performance improvements and power savings, compared to the previous generation of SoCs manufactured at ‘10nm’. CV5S and CV52S AI-powered SoCs The CV5S, designed for multi-imager cameras, is able to process, encode and perform advanced AI on up to four imagers at 4Kp30 resolution, simultaneously and at less than 5 watts. This enables multi-headed camera designs with up to four 4K imagers looking at different portions of a scene, as well as very high-resolution, single-imager cameras of up to 32 MP resolution and beyond. The CV52S, designed for single-imager cameras with very powerful onboard AI, is the next-generation of the company’s successful CV22S mainstream 4K camera AI chip. This new SoC family quadruples the AI processing performance, while keeping the same low power consumption of less than 3 watts for 4Kp60 encoding with advanced AI processing. Faster and ubiquitous AI capabilities Ambarella’s newest AI vision SoCs for security, the CV5S and CV52S, are competitive solutions" “Security system designers desire higher resolutions, increasing channel counts, and ever faster and more ubiquitous AI capabilities,” explains John Lorenz, Senior Technology and Market Analyst, Computing, at Yole Développement (Yole), a French market research firm. John Lorenz adds, “Ambarella’s newest AI vision SoCs for security, the CV5S and CV52S, are competitive solutions for meeting the growing demands of the security IC (integrated circuit) sector, which our latest report forecasts to exceed US$ 4 billion by 2025, with two-thirds of that being chips with AI capabilities.” Edge AI vision processors Ambarella’s new CV5S and CV52S edge AI vision processors enable new classes of cameras that would not have been possible in the past, with a single SoC architecture. For example, implementing a 4x 4K multi-imager with AI would have traditionally required at least two SoCs (at least one for encoding and one for AI), and the overall power consumption would have made those designs bulky and prohibitively expensive. By reducing the number of required SoCs, the CV5S enables advanced camera designs such as AI-enabled 4x 4K imagers at price points much lower than would have previously been possible. “What we are usually trying to do with our SoCs is to keep the price points similar to the previous generations, given that camera retail prices tend to be fairly fixed,” said Jerome Gigot, Ambarella's Senior Director of Marketing. 4K multi-imager cameras “However, higher-end 4K multi-imager cameras tend to retail for thousands of dollars, and so even though there will be a small premium on the SoC for the 2X improvement in performance, this will not make a significant impact to the final MSRP of the camera,” adds Jerome Gigot. In addition, the overall system cost might go down, Gigot notes, compared to what could be built today because there is no longer a need for external chips to perform AI, or extra components for power dissipation. The new chips will be available in the second half of 2021, and it typically takes about 12 to 18 months for Ambarella’s customers (camera manufacturers) to produce final cameras. Therefore, the first cameras, based on these new SoCs, should hit the market sometime in the second half of 2022. Reference boards for camera manufacturers The software on these new SoCs is an evolution of our unified Linux SDK" As with Ambarella’s previous generations of edge AI vision SoCs for security, the company will make available reference boards to camera manufacturers soon, allowing them to develop their cameras based on the new CV5S and CV52S SoC families. “The software on these new SoCs is an evolution of our unified Linux SDK that is already available on our previous generations SoCs, which makes the transition easy for our customers,” said Jerome Gigot. Better crime detection Detecting criminals in a crowd, using face recognition and/or license plate recognition, has been a daunting challenge for security, and one the new chips will help to address. “Actually, these applications are one of the main reasons why Ambarella is introducing these two new SoC families,” said Jerome Gigot. Typically, resolutions of 4K and higher have been a smaller portion of the security market, given that they came at a premium price tag for the high-end optics, image sensor and SoC. Also, the cost and extra bandwidth of storing and streaming 4K video were not always worth it for the benefit of just viewing video at higher resolution. 4K AI processing on-camera The advent of on-camera AI at 4K changes the paradigm. By enabling 4K AI processing on-camera, smaller objects at longer distances can now be detected and analyzed without having to go to a server, and with much higher detail and accuracy compared to what can be done on a 2 MP or 5 MP cameras. This means that fewer false alarms will be generated, and each camera will now be able to cover a longer distance and wider area, offering more meaningful insights without necessarily having to stream and store that 4K video to a back-end server. “This is valuable, for example, for traffic cameras mounted on top of high poles, which need to be able to see very far out and identify cars and license plates that are hundreds of meters away,” said Jerome Gigot. The advent of on-camera AI at 4K changes the paradigm Enhanced video analytics and wider coverage “Ambarella’s new CV5S and CV52S SoCs truly allow the industry to take advantage of higher resolution on-camera for better analytics and wider coverage, but without all the costs typically incurred by having to stream high-quality 4K video out 24/7 to a remote server for offline analytics,” said Jerome Gigot. He adds, “So, next-generation cameras will now be able to identify more criminals, faces and license plates, at longer distances, for an overall lower cost and with faster response times by doing it all locally on-camera.” Deployment in retail applications Retail environments can be some of the toughest, as the cameras may be looking at hundreds of people at once Retail applications are another big selling point. Retail environments can be some of the toughest, as the cameras may be looking at hundreds of people at once (e.g., in a mall), to provide not only security features, but also other business analytics, such as foot traffic and occupancy maps that can be used later to improve product placement. The higher resolution and higher AI performance, enabled by the new Ambarella SoCs, provide a leap forward in addressing those scenarios. In a store setup, a ceiling-mounted camera with four 4K imagers can simultaneously look at the cashier line on one side of the store, sending alerts when a line is getting too long and a new cashier needs to be deployed, while at the same time looking at the entrance on the other side of the store, to count the people coming in and out. This leaves two additional 4K imagers for monitoring specific product aisles and generating real-time business analytics. Use in cashier-less stores Another retail application is a cashier-less store. Here, a CV5S or CV52S-based camera mounted on the ceiling will have enough resolution and AI performance to track goods, while the customer grabs them and puts them in their cart, as well as to automatically track which customer is purchasing which item. In a warehouse scenario, items and boxes moving across the floor could also be followed locally, on a single ceiling-mounted camera that covers a wide area of the warehouse. Additionally, these items and boxes could be tracked across the different imagers in a multi-headed camera setup, without the video having to be sent to a server to perform the tracking. Updating on-camera AI networks Another feature of Ambarella’s SoCs is that their on-camera AI networks can be updated on-the-fly, without having to stop the video recording and without losing any video frames. So, for example in the case of a search for a missing vehicle, the characteristics of that missing vehicle (make, model, color, license plate) can be sent to a cluster of cameras in the general area, where the vehicle is thought to be missing, and all those cameras can be automatically updated to run a live search on that specific vehicle. If any of the cameras gets a match, a remote operator can be notified and receive a picture, or even a live video feed of the scene. Efficient traffic management With the CV52S edge AI vision SoC, those decisions can be made locally at each intersection by the camera itself Relating to traffic congestion, most big cities have thousands of intersections that they need to monitor and manage. Trying to do this from one central location is costly and difficult, as there is so much video data to process and analyze, in order to make those traffic decisions (to control the traffic lights, reverse lanes, etc.). With the CV52S edge AI vision SoC, those decisions can be made locally at each intersection by the camera itself. The camera would then take actions autonomously (for example, adjust traffic-light timing) and only report a status update to the main traffic control center. So now, instead of having one central location trying to manage 1,000 intersections, a city can have 1,000 smart AI cameras, each managing its own location and providing updates and metadata to a central server. Superior privacy Privacy is always a concern with video. In this case, doing AI on-camera is inherently more private than streaming the video to a server for analysis. Less data transmission means fewer points of entry for a hacker trying to access the video. On Ambarella’s CV5S and CV52S SoCs, the video can be analyzed locally and then discarded, with just a signature or metadata of the face being used to find a match. No actual video needs to be stored or transmitted, which ensures total privacy. In addition, the chips contain a very secure hardware cyber security block, including OTP memory, Arm TrustZones, DRAM scrambling and I/O virtualization. This makes it very difficult for a hacker to replace the firmware on the camera, providing another level of security and privacy at the system level. Privacy Masking Another privacy feature is the concept of privacy masking. This feature enables portions of the video (say a door or a window) to be blocked out, before being encoded in the video stream. The blocked portions of the scene are not present in the recorded video, thus providing a privacy option for cameras that are facing private areas. “With on-camera AI, each device becomes its own smart endpoint, and can be reconfigured at will to serve the specific physical security needs of its installation,” said Jerome Gigot, adding “The possibilities are endless, and our mission as an SoC maker is really to provide a powerful and easy-to-use platform, complete with computer-vision tools, that enable our customers and their partners to easily deploy their own AI software on-camera.” Physical security in parking lots With a CV5S or CV52S AI-enabled camera, the camera will be able to cover a much wider portion of the parking lot One example is physical security in a parking lot. A camera today might be used to just record part of the parking lot, so that an operator can go back and look at the video if a car were broken into or some other incident occurred. With a CV5S or CV52S AI-enabled camera, first of all, the camera will be able to cover a much wider portion of the parking lot. Additionally, it will be able to detect the license plates of all the cars going in and out, to automatically bill the owners. If there is a special event, the camera can be reprogrammed to identify VIP vehicles and automatically redirect them to the VIP portion of the lot, while reporting to the entrance station or sign how many parking spots are available. It can even tell the cars approaching the lot where to go. Advantages of using edge AI vision SoCs Jerome Gigot said, “The possibilities are endless and they span across many verticals. The market is primed to embrace these new capabilities. Recent advances in edge AI vision SoCs have brought about a period of change in the physical security space. Companies that would have, historically, only provided security cameras, are now getting into adjacent verticals such as smart retail, smart cities and smart buildings.” He adds, “These changes are providing a great opportunity for all the camera makers and software providers to really differentiate themselves by providing full systems that offer a new level of insights and efficiencies to, not only the physical security manager, but now also the store owner and the building manager.” He adds, “All of these new applications are extremely healthy for the industry, as they are growing the available market for cameras, while also increasing their value and the economies of scale they can provide. Ambarella is looking forward to seeing all the innovative products that our customers will build with this new generation of SoCs.”

Imagine a world where video cameras are not just watching and reporting for security, but have an even wider positive impact on our lives. Imagine that cameras control street and building lights, as people come and go, that traffic jams are predicted and vehicles are automatically rerouted, and more tills are opened, just before a queue starts to form. Cameras with AI capabilities Cameras in stores can show us how we might look in the latest outfit as we browse. That’s the vision from Panasonic about current and future uses for their cameras that provide artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities at the edge. Panasonic feels that these types of intelligent camera applications are also the basis for automation and introduction of Industry 4.0, in which processes are automated, monitored and controlled by AI-driven systems. 4K network security cameras The company’s i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications Panasonic’s 4K network security cameras have built-in AI capabilities suitable for this next generation of intelligent applications in business and society. The company’s i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications. The AI engine is directly embedded into the camera, thus reducing costs and Panasonic’s image quality ensures the accuracy of the analytics outcome. FacePRO facial recognition technology Panasonic began advancing AI technology on the server side with FacePRO, the in-house facial recognition application, which uses AI deep learning capabilities. Moving ahead, they transitioned their knowledge of AI from the server side to the edge, introducing i-PRO security cameras with built-in AI capabilities last summer, alongside their own in-house analytics. Moreover, in line with the Panasonic approach to focus more on collaboration with specialist AI software developers, a partnership with Italian software company, A.I. Tech followed in September, with a range of intelligent applications, partially based on deep learning. Additional collaborations are already in place with more than 10 other developers, across the European Union, working on more future applications. i-PRO AI-capable security cameras Open systems are an important part of Panasonic’s current approach. The company’s i-PRO AI-capable cameras are an open platform and designed for third-party application development, therefore, applications can be built or tailored to the needs of an individual customer. Panasonic use to be a company that developed everything in-house, including all the analytics and applications. “However, now we have turned around our strategy by making our i-PRO security cameras open to integrate applications and analytics from third-party companies,” says Gerard Figols, Head of Security Solutions at Panasonic Business Europe. Flexible and adapting to specific customer needs This new approach allows the company to be more flexible and adaptable to customers’ needs. “At the same time, we can be quicker and much more tailored to the market trend,” said Gerard Figols. He adds, “For example, in the retail space, enabling retailers to enhance the customer experience, in smart cities for traffic monitoring and smart parking, and by event organizers and transport hubs to monitor and ensure safety.” Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems Edge-based analytics Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems. On one hand, there are monetary benefits - a cost reduction results from the decreased amount of more powerful hardware required on the server side to process the data, on top of reduction in the infrastructure costs, as not all the full video stream needs to be sent for analysis, we can work solely with the metadata. On the other hand, there are also advantages of flexibility, as well as reliability. Each camera can have its own individual analytic setup and in case of any issue on the communication or server side, the camera can keep running the analysis at the edge, thereby making sure the CCTV system is still fully operational. Most importantly, systems can keep the same high level of accuracy. Explosion of AI camera applications We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications" “We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications,” said Gerard Figols, adding “However, it doesn’t mean the hardware is not important anymore, as I believe it’s more important than ever. Working with poor picture quality or if the hardware is not reliable, and works 24/7, software cannot run or deliver the outcome it has been designed for.” As hardware specialists, Figols believes that Panasonic seeks to focus on what they do best - Building long-lasting, open network cameras, which are capable of capturing the highest quality images that are required for the latest AI applications, while software developers can concentrate on bringing specialist applications to the market. Same as for smartphones, AI applications will proliferate based on market demand and succeed or fail, based on the value that they deliver. Facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line technologies Panasonic has been in the forefront in developing essential AI applications for CCTV, such as facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line. However, with the market developing so rapidly and the potential applications of AI-driven camera systems being so varied and widespread, Panasonic quickly realized that the future of their network cameras was going to be in open systems, which allow specialist developers and their customers to use their sector expertise to develop their own applications for specific vertical market applications, while using i-PRO hardware. Metadata for detection and recognition Regarding privacy, consider that the use of AI in cameras is about generating metadata for the detection and recognition of patterns, rather than identifying individual identities. “However, there are legitimate privacy concerns, but I firmly believe that attitudes will change quickly when people see the incredible benefits that this technology can deliver,” said Gerard Figols, adding “I hope that we will be able to redefine our view of cameras and AI, not just as insurance, but as life advancing and enhancing.” i-PRO AI Privacy Guard One of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard Seeking to understand and appreciate privacy concerns, one of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard that generates data without capturing individual identities, following European privacy regulations that are among the strictest in the world. Gerard Fogils said, “The combination of artificial intelligence and the latest generation open camera technology will change the world’s perceptions from Big Brother to Big Benefits. New applications will emerge as the existing generation of cameras is updated to the new open and intelligent next generation devices, and the existing role of the security camera will also continue.” Future scope of AI and cameras He adds, “Not just relying on the security cameras for evidence when things have gone wrong, end users will increasingly be able to use AI and the cameras with much higher accuracy to prevent false alarms and in a proactive way to prevent incidents." Gerard Figols concludes, “That could be monitoring and alerting when health and safety guidelines are being breached or spotting and flagging patterns of suspicious behavior before incidents occur.”

The Prague city administration together with the Criminal Investigation Department relies on security technology from Germany-based Dallmeier in Prague's Wenceslas Square, one of the largest city squares in Europe with an area of 45,000 square meters, and the Old Town Square. Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square in Prague are both steeped in history, and now as ever before remaining important hubs for tourism and traffic. To ensure the safety of the streams of people and vehicles in these places, when it comes to security equipment the Prague city administration relies on a combination of conventional cameras and a solution from the Regensburg company Dallmeier. From horse market to commercial thoroughfare Wenceslas Square in Prague was created in the 14th century and originally served as a horse market, as was reflected in its name. It was renamed "Wenceslas Square" in 1848 in tribute to Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia. Since the 19th century, the function of the square has evolved from that of a place for trading horses to a busy commercial district. The function of the square has evolved from that of a place for trading horses to a busy commercial district It is used by pedestrians, cyclists, motor vehicles, and local public transport alike, and so constitutes a major confluence point in Prague's New City. The city administration attaches great importance to ensuring that all these traffic elements can coexist in harmony, and to have a general overview of what is happening, the administration together with the police criminal investigation department rely on the sharp "eyes" of the Panomera®. Tourist magnet Old Town Square Panomera® also provides security in the 9000 square meter Prague Old Town Square. The Old Town Square is the historic heart of the city and attracts thousands of tourists every year with its atmosphere, sights, and markets. Its history dates to the 11th century, and it has always been a crossroads for commerce and a marketplace.  It is a magnet for tourists and its borders abound with restaurants, museums, galleries, and shops. The astronomical clock on the tower of the Old Town Hall is one of the most well-known sights in Europe. Advantages of Panomera® technology for monitoring The solution for both Wenceslas Square and Old Town Square consists of Panomera® models from the Topline series. The Panomera® multifocal sensor system can provide coverage for vast expanses and areas. Infrastructure costs are also lower since a single Panomera® captures a much larger area and fewer installation points The combination of general overview with the highest possible resolution of details is very important, particularly for large squares, and with this camera technology more remote objects can also be displayed with the same resolution as objects in the image foreground. Several operators can zoom into the same image at the same time. Even then, the overall scene always remains in view and the recording continues. Where previously several megapixel cameras would have been needed, the users' workload has been reduced significantly, because fewer images must be captured. Infrastructure costs are also lower since a single Panomera® captures a much larger area and fewer installation points are needed. For customers, this means savings not only in terms of infrastructure but also regarding operation and management, so total operating costs are reduced. Planning that delivers  In the project planning phase, the Dallmeier 3D specialist team consisting of engineers and graphic designers created a three-dimensional simulation of the customer's environment. In the 3D model, the team simulated the real camera models and locations/installation sites, and thus also angles of vision and ranges. The completed 3D model was presented to the customer jointly with integration partner KH Servis in Prague and comprised the entire solution including the cameras and other essential components. The city administration and police authorities were delighted by this manner of project visualization because this approach also allowed an accurate calculation of costs to be made, giving the customer certainty regarding the cost and scope of the project. "What we plan is what you get" 3D planning also guarantees that there are no surprises either on the technical or financial level 3D planning also guarantees that there are no surprises either on the technical or financial level during or after the installation. Dallmeier calls this approach "What we plan is what you get". Besides the technical advantages delivered by Panomera®, the customers were also impressed by the planning certainty they were given by the 3D visualization, and, at the end of 2017, Dallmeier won the order to put the project into practice. Test run at the Dallmeier FAT Centre Before it was installed, the planned solution underwent a Dallmeier Factory Acceptance Test at the FAT Centre in Regensburg. All components were assembled there, and the final environment was tested in live operation. While testing was proceeding in the FAT Centre, KH Servis was also attending training in Regensburg so they would be ready for the on-site installation and so they could see the system operating flawlessly for themselves. Observation and intervention With the installation of the multifocal sensor systems, the desire for increased security and more effective intervention capabilities was realized. The cameras are used to observe situations and when necessary, enable rapid countermeasures or also a rapid investigation of incidents. In the event of criminal offenses, the video material can be stored separately as evidence. Special challenge: Protection of historic monuments Permission had to be obtained from the building owners before the cameras could be mounted Both squares are bordered by buildings with historic monument status, the Panomera® cameras could not always be mounted where single sensor cameras had hung previously, enabling the "old" installation points to be used. Permission had to be obtained from the building owners before the cameras could be mounted, but this was managed successfully for all the new installation points. Conclusion The conclusion by KH Servis, Dallmeier's integration partner in Prague, "We worked together with extreme professionalism, the city administration and police authorities were ultimately convinced, not only by the quality of the systems and the image material but also the impressive planning phase and planning certainty it gave them."

CEDIA, the industry association for the home technology industry, announces a community for Ring Professionals within the association. The new initiative will grant Ring Pros access to a carefully selected educational curriculum and a variety of member benefits. “Our goal at CEDIA is to welcome innovation from all corners of the industry, which is why we’re so excited to work more closely with Ring to expand access to CEDIA benefits and training to pros who are making an impact on the growing residential technology space,” says CEDIA Senior Director Strategic Partnerships Ian Bryant.   Training and certification programs For a limited time, Ring Pros can join the CEDIA community as an individual member for $99 to gain access to discounted educational opportunities through CEDIA Academy, a dedicated Ring Pro portal, and exclusive webinar content. Ring Pros will also be able to take advantage of the many benefits a CEDIA membership has to offer, including education and training, certification programs, in-person and virtual events, whitepapers, and more. The first 100 registered Ring Pros to become CEDIA members will also receive a complimentary Amazon Echo Show 5 as a welcome gift. As homes become smarter, customers expect more from smart devices" Making Smart homes “At Ring, we’re committed to supporting pros and giving them the tools they need to succeed,” said Andrew Vloyanetes, GM of Installed Solutions at Ring. “As homes become smarter and residential technology becomes more commonplace, customers expect more from their smart devices. We’re excited to work with CEDIA to provide educational content and other tools so pros can delight their customers and make their homes work harder for them.” CEDIA’s Propel program Ring and other Amazon products will be available through CEDIA’s Propel program, which connects CEDIA members to emerging trends, innovative technology, and special offers. All CEDIA members who order through Amazon business are eligible to receive up to 25 percent off Amazon Echo, Ring, and other Amazon products.

Honeywell announces it was selected to lead the Bengaluru Safe City project under the Nirbhaya Fund by the Government of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs. The project aims to create a safe, secure, and empowering environment for women and girls in public places to enable them to pursue all opportunities without the threat of gender-based violence or harassment. The Bengaluru Safe City project is valued at INR 496.57 crore ($67 million USD). Advanced video analytics Honeywell will create an integrated Command & Control Center to manage a state-of-the-art video system that features more than 7,000 video cameras deployed at more than 3,000 locations across the city. The video system will provide advanced video analytics, including facial recognition, a ‘Dial 100’ application, and drones. Honeywell will also upgrade the city police department’s existing Suraksha app to help improve incident response rate and citizen engagement. Bengaluru is among eight cities selected for India’s Safe City project, which involves the identification of hot spots for crimes against women and the deployment of various components, including infrastructure, technology adoption, and capacity building in the community through awareness programs. Making informed decisions Honeywell helps develop future-ready cities with its wide portfolio of smart city offerings" “Globally, Honeywell helps develop future-ready cities with its wide portfolio of smart city offerings, including a focus on connected safety and security technology,” said Matthew Britt, Smart Cities General Manager, Honeywell Building Technologies. “Our technology-led integrator approach combined with our global expertise in delivering complex integrated solutions can help city administrators make informed decisions and improve safety for citizens in near real-time, with the goal of turning Bengaluru into a city that’s safer, smarter and more resilient.” The Bengaluru Safe City project will be implemented in phases. Honeywell will operate and maintain the security infrastructure for five years. Smart city systems Honeywell’s smart city systems connect more than 100,000 IoT sensors and touch the lives of more than 100 million people. The company’s solutions help create actionable insights that city authorities and municipalities can use to improve their situational awareness, economic development, and quality of life for residents. Honeywell has delivered similar projects under India’s Smart Cities Mission across multiple states, including Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, to name a few.

Genetec Inc., a technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions, has deployed its Security Center unified platform to enable the City of Chattanooga’s ‘Dragonfly Community Connect,’ a public-private policing initiative to enhance public safety in the Tennessee community. Through the initiative, when calls come into the Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) to report a crime, the Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) can check with participating businesses in the area to see if they can share video from their security cameras. Cloud-based VMS Using Stratocast™, a cloud-based video monitoring service from Genetec, business owners can give permission and provide access to their video streams to the CPD upon request so that investigating officers can monitor live video during an incident or review recorded video during an investigation directly from the Security Center platform located in the RTIC. Stratocast allows business owners to keep an eye on their business and view live and recorded video 24/7 With Stratocast, business owners can also keep an eye on their business and view live and recorded video from their laptop, tablet, or smartphone 24/7. High-quality, detailed video not only provides timely information to responding officers but also simplifies the ensuing investigation. Hosted on Microsoft Azure®, Stratocast requires less hardware to install and maintain, lowering overall costs. Because recorded video is stored in the cloud, it is safe from physical damage and secures unauthorized access. Reduces suspect determination time “Having the capability to view live video allows our investigators to quickly send images of suspects, their vehicles, and other crucial information to officers who are responding to calls for service,” said Chattanooga retired Police Chief David Roddy. "It dramatically reduces the time officers spend requesting, accessing, or obtaining video evidence relative to the event or crime to which they are responding." Real-time crime fighting The link between the public and private sectors is essential for real-time crime-fighting, for improving neighborhood safety" Genetec National Director of Public Sector Security, Rick Taylor, said, “The link between the public and private sectors is essential for real-time crime-fighting, for improving neighborhood safety, and promoting the growth of local businesses." "Many cities around the world have successfully rolled out similar Community Connect™ projects and we’re pleased to be a part of Chattanooga’s Dragonfly Community Connect program.” The city chose ‘Dragonfly’ for its project name as dragonflies have a nearly 360-degree field of vision, with a single-blind spot, behind them. “Video is an increasingly essential part of our investigations,” Roddy noted. “We’ve seen the value demonstrated by our cameras in the community, and with the addition of participating local businesses, we can greatly increase our field of view.” Unified platform Genetec™ Security Center is a unified platform that blends IP video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition, intrusion detection, and communications within one intuitive, modular solution to enable organizations to be more efficient, make better decisions, and respond to situations and threats with greater confidence.

Dahua Technology, a globally renowned video-centric smart IoT solutions and service provider, will hold its 2nd online Dahua Technology Partner Day, from October 13 - 14, 2021, with the theme - ‘Building a digital future’. Dahua Technology Partner Day Adhering to its strategy of open cooperation, Dahua Technology is committed to creating a win-win ecosystem, with major technology partners around the world. This year, Dahua Technology will join hands with its 22 global partners, in order to discuss interoperability, share industry trends and explore the future of digitalization and intelligence together. “We are excited to host our second virtual technology partner day. Technologies have evolved fast in the past year and the needs of digitization, and diversified challenges facing different industries today, are driving the integration of security companies,” said Mr. Jiaqi Gao, Overseas Marketing Director at Dahua Technology. Jiaqi Gao adds, “It is a great opportunity to show how we can build a digital future together with our partners and through which, we can jointly provide the right solution for our customers.” Smart solutions for IoT and security on show A number of Dahua regional experts will showcase the latest Dahua innovations and products, in 6 different hubs During the 2-day event, Dahua Technology and its partners, including Vanderbilt, AxxonSoft, Immix and Optex, will unveil how their smart solutions benefit the field of security and IoT (Internet of Things). It will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud solutions and alarm monitoring, as well as specific vertical markets, such as retail, smart building & facilities, critical infrastructure, transportation, etc. This year’s event will also include a section that demonstrates outstanding Dahua products and their compatibility with third-party solutions. A number of Dahua regional experts will showcase the latest Dahua innovations and products, in 6 different hubs, including cyber security & privacy protection, full-color 2.0 and TiOC 2.0, WizMind portfolio, and more. Attendees can register free of charge, connect with presenters and get product information. Behavior analytics in Artificial Intelligence (AI) “The Dahua Partner Day event offers a great platform for AxxonSoft, to present our solutions. We successfully exhibited on last year’s Traffic & Parking session and are excited to share more information about behavior analytics in the AI hub, this year,” said Alan Ataev, AxxonSoft’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), adding “Together with Dahua, we are enthusiastic about creating joint solutions that grow our value proposition for both our partners and clients.” With its mission of ‘Enabling a safer society and smarter living’, Dahua Technology will continue to focus on ‘Innovation, Quality and Service’, so as to serve its partners and customers around the world.

New research has found that more than half (55%) of the UK population don’t know what a smart city is, despite global spend reaching $124 billion in 2020 and at least 18 cities across the UK already having rolled outsmart technology. When asked if they understand what is meant by smart city, just 18% of people said that they are very familiar with the concept, while 28% said that they think they have a rough understanding. On the other hand, a fifth (20%) of people had never even heard the term before, a quarter (25%) said they weren’t sure, and 10% either found the concept of smart cities confusing or had heard the term but didn’t know what it meant. Increasing prevalence of smart cities While awareness is low, the research, published in a new report into public perception of smart cities by video management solution provider Milestone Systems, did also show that feelings towards the growing prevalence of smart city technology are largely positive. 24% of people said that they were very excited about future smart city developments Around a quarter (24%) of people said that they were very excited about future smart city developments, and a third (32%) said that they believe it’ll be a good thing. Only 13% of people were actively against further implementation of smart city technology, but a fifth (20%) said that they don’t know enough about the concept to know how they feel. Adopting smart technology Malou Toft, EMEA VP at Milestone Systems, commented, “The UK has been one of the earliest adopters of smart city technology and is recognized as a global pioneer, with London, Manchester, and Newcastle all ranked within the top 25 smart cities in the world in 2020. Yet the majority of the public is seemingly unaware of this progress.” “While this hasn’t caused any problems yet, we can see from the recent protests against the roll-out of low-traffic neighborhoods that buy-in from the general public is essential to the successful evolution of urban areas. Communicating the benefits of smart technology over the coming years will help to maintain the current positive feeling towards smarter cities, and ensure there is no backlash to further digital transformation.” Understanding the concept 21% of men said that they were very familiar with the smart cities concept, compared with 15% of women The youngest age groups were the most likely to say that they were very familiar with the term ‘smart city, with 27% of 18-34 years old giving this response. These numbers dramatically decreased with age, with only 6% of 55–64-year-olds and 2% of those 65+ confident that they understand what a smart city is. More unexpectedly, the data also shows a marked difference between men and women: 21% of men said that they were very familiar with the smart cities concept, compared with 15% of women, while 23% of women had never heard the term before, compared with 15% of men. The groups with the best understanding were most likely to be ‘very excited about the prospect of smarter cities, and also no more likely to be opposed to the idea than the average, suggesting that greater knowledge and understanding of smart city technology typically leads to more positive feeling rather than negative. Providing opportunity Malou continued, “While we might have expected the older generations to be less informed on the subject, it is startling to note the differences between the responses from men and women. While certain demographics may be less likely to naturally encounter information about smart city technology, they will be equally as affected by the tech as it becomes more widely implemented.”   “It’s clear that more needs to be done to reach these groups and allow them to take an interest in the exciting ways in which their cities are evolving.”

Our Expert Panel Roundtable is an opinionated group. However, for a variety of reasons, we are sometimes guilty of not publishing their musings in a timely manner. At the end of 2020, we came across several interesting comments among those that were previously unpublished. Following is a catch-all collection of those responses, addressing some of the most current and important issues in the security marketplace in 2021.

The emergence of smart cities provides real-world evidence of the vast capabilities of the Internet of Things (IoT). Urban areas today can deploy a variety of IoT sensors to collect data that is then analyzed to provide insights to drive better decision-making and ultimately to make modern cities more livable. Safety and security are an important aspect of smart cities, and the capabilities that drive smarter cities also enable technologies that make them safer. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the physical security challenges of smart cities?