The advent of 4G and 5G internet of things (IoT)-based connectivity is spurring the online migration of smart-city applications, helping generate a more than sevenfold increase in smart-city artificial intelligence (AI) software revenue by 2025.

The global smart-city AI software market is set to soar to $4.9 billion in 2025, up from $673.8 million in 2019, according to Omdia. Wireless data communications standards are enabling smart-city applications to move into the online realm, where they can capitalize on the latest AI innovations. The growing capabilities of AI are enabling data and insights collected through IoT networks to be monitored, analyzed and acted upon.

“From video surveillance, to traffic control, to street lighting, smart-city use cases of all types are defined by the collection, management and usage of data,” said Keith Kirkpatrick, principal analyst for AI at Omdia. “However, until recently, connecting disparate components and systems together to work in concert has been challenging due to the lack of connectivity solutions that are fast, cost effective, low latency and ubiquitous in coverage. These challenges now are being overcome by leveraging advances in AI and connectivity.”

Using the power of AI, smart-city systems can create municipal systems and services that not only operate more efficiently, but also provide significant benefits to workers and visitors. These benefits can come in many forms, including reduced crime, cleaner air, more orderly traffic flow and more efficient government services.

Smart cities leverage AI for video surveillance

One example of how smart cities are leveraging AI is in the video surveillance realm.

When hosting public events, some cities are beginning to use video cameras that are mated to AI-based video analytics technology. The goal is to have AI algorithms scan the video and look for behavioral or situational anomalies that could indicate that a terrorist act or other outbreaks of violence may be about to occur.

However, cities are increasingly employing cloud-based AI systems that can search footage from most closed-circuit TV (CCTV) systems, allowing the platform and technology to be applied to existing camera infrastructure. Furthermore, video surveillance can be combined with AI-based object detection to perform tasks including learning patterns in an area; detecting faces, gender, heights and moods; reading license plates; and identifying anomalies or potential threats, such as unattended packages.

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In challenging times, caused by the outbreak of Coronavirus Covid-19, the health of our employees and partners became our priority.

Global Security d.o.o., the publisher of a&s Adria magazine and the organizer of Adria Security Summit conference and exhibition, has taken several measures for better protection of our employees, subscribers, friends and partners and for maintaining business continuity:

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a&s Adria has taken several measures for better protection of our employees, readers, subscribers and partners:
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An executive order is being prepared to ban federal agencies from buying or using foreign-made drones, building on previous moves by the Interior Department to ground its entire fleet of drones, all of which had parts manufactured in China.

The draft order, which was reported by TechCrunch, specifically cites national security threats posed by Chinese manufacturers as the reasoning behind the ban. The Trump administration fears that sensitive data collected by drones could be accessed by the Chinese companies, which are required to collaborate and share information with Chinese authorities if asked.

The order will “encourage” domestically built drones and that federal agencies would have one month to comply with the ban, according to TechCrunch. Military and intelligence agencies would be granted widespread exemptions under the terms of the draft order, TechCrunch reported.

China-based drone manufacturer would stand to lose the most from the ban. DJI accounts for 70 percent of the world drone market and formerly supplied many of the parts and drones for federal agencies. Michael Oldenburg, a DJI spokesperson, stated the company’s opposition to any proposed ban on foreign-made drones.

“While we haven’t seen the document, this proposal is another attack on drone technology based on its country of origin, which recent reporting has shown has been criticized within federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service and even the White House Office of Management and Budget,” Oldenburg told TechCrunch.

He added: “When communicating among themselves, these agencies’ officials have explained how such an approach damages American interests and does not solve any cybersecurity issues, and have acknowledged that DJI’s products have been validated as secure for use in government operations.”

The global fire alarm and detection market size is expected to reach USD 75.3 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. 

Increasing awareness towards the safety and security of assets across the globe is expected to offer significant opportunities for technological innovations in the market. Additionally, rise in the consumer spending on fire protection devices especially across the enterprise and industrial sectors in order to reduce the risk of accidents is expected to spur market growth. Moreover, stringent government regulations and mandates regarding workplace safety, and increasing demand for state-of-the-art fire alarm & detection system is expected to fuel the market.

A growing number of fire accidents has developed into the need for installation of advanced alarm and detection systems across the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. For instance, legislative requirements from different countries including the National Fire Protection Association, USA, and Building Code of Australia have mandated the installation of fire detection devices, thereby boosting the demand for these devices.

North America dominated the market in 2019 and is expected by the researchers to continue its dominance over the forthcoming years.  Whilst the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2027. Growing industrialisation and urbanisation in emerging markets such as India, China, and Japan is expected to accelerate infrastructure spending including mass transportation such as airport security for example.

The fire detector segment is expected to dominate the market owing to stringent government regulations across various countries mandating the installation of the devices. For instance, in India, the National Building Code (NBC) was published in 2016 to implement building standards ensuring safety through the use of active and passive smoke detection systems. The segment is expected to reach USD 38.1 billion by 2027.

Within the detectors segment, smoke detectors are expected to dominate and the analysts expect that trend to continue over the forecast period, anticipating it to reach USD 17.0 billion by 2027. 

Prominent industry participants cited by the researchers include Bosch; Eaton Gentex; United Technologies Corporation; Honeywell; and Johnson Controls.

Honeywell has announced that it has achieved a breakthrough in quantum computing that accelerates the capability of quantum computers and will enable the company to release the world’s most powerful quantum computer within the next three months.

To accelerate its development, the company also announced it has made strategic investments in two leading quantum computing software providers, Cambridge Quantum Computing (CQC) and Zapata Computing, and will work together to develop quantum computing algorithms with JP Morgan Chase. Together, these announcements demonstrate significant technological and commercial progress for quantum computing and change the dynamics in the quantum computing industry.

Within the next three months, Honeywell plans to bring to market the world’s most powerful quantum computer in terms of quantum volume, a measure of quantum capability that goes beyond the number of qubits. Quantum volume measures computational ability, indicating the relative complexity of a problem that can be solved by a quantum computer. When released, Honeywell’s quantum computer will have a quantum volume of at least 64, twice that of the next alternative in the industry.

In a scientific paper, Honeywell has demonstrated its quantum charge coupled device (QCCD) architecture, a major technical breakthrough in accelerating quantum capability. The company also announced it is on a trajectory to increase its computer’s quantum volume by an order of magnitude each year for the next five years.

According to the company, this breakthrough in quantum volume results from Honeywell’s solution having the highest-quality, fully-connected qubits with the lowest error rates. “Building quantum computers capable of solving deeper, more complex problems is not just a simple matter of increasing the number of qubits,” said Paul Smith-Goodson, analyst-in-residence for quantum computing, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Quantum volume is a powerful tool that should be adopted as an interim benchmarking tool by other gate-based quantum computer companies.”

Honeywell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Darius Adamczyk said companies should start now to determine their strategy to leverage or mitigate the many business changes that are likely to result from new quantum computing technology.

“Quantum computing will enable us to tackle complex scientific and business challenges, driving step-change improvements in computational power, operating costs and speed,” Adamczyk said. “Materials companies will explore new molecular structures. Transportation companies will optimise logistics. Financial institutions will need faster and more precise software applications. Pharmaceutical companies will accelerate the discovery of new drugs. Honeywell is striving to influence how quantum computing evolves and to create opportunities for our customers to benefit from this powerful new technology.”

Honeywell first announced its quantum computing capabilities in late 2018, although the company had been working on the technical foundations for its quantum computer for a decade prior to that. In late 2019, Honeywell announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide cloud access to Honeywell’s quantum computer through Microsoft Azure Quantum services.

Honeywell’s quantum computer uses trapped-ion technology, which leverages numerous, individual, charged atoms (ions) to hold quantum information. Honeywell’s system applies electromagnetic fields to hold (trap) each ion so it can be manipulated and encoded using laser pulses.

The global market for do-it-yourself (DIY) standalone network security cameras has been predicted to surge by 80 percent by 2024—a rapid pace of growth that is attracting new competitors and challenging the positions of the current market leaders.

Worldwide revenue for such cameras, which represent a pillar of most smart home ecosystems, is set to soar to $3.6 billion in 2024, up from $2 billion in 2019, according to the latest Consumer & DIY Video Surveillance report from Omdia, the new research company formed as a result of the merger between Informa Tech and IHS Markit technology divisions. The related market for video doorbells is also experiencing rapid growth, with worldwide rising to $750 million in 2024, up from $492 million in 2019.

“Brands such as Wyze, Xiaomi, Hikvision and Ring have quickly risen through the ranks to threaten Arlo and Nest as the market leaders in terms of unit shipments for standalone network cameras,” said Blake Kozak, principal analyst at Omdia. “Due to its competitive camera pricing, Arlo remained in the top spot as of 2019. However, the company’s status will be further tested as competition intensifies in 2020.”

Historically, Nest and Arlo have been the market leaders in standalone network cameras. For example, in the United States in 2017, Arlo commanded a 31 percent market share of global unit shipments, while Nest held a 10.2 percent share. However, as of 2019, Arlo’s share dropped to about 26 percent and Nest to 8.9 percent.

Contributing to the decline in market share for Arlo and Nest is the growing number of brands that offer products with technical specs similar to the top brands. However, these products come with free features that would otherwise incur a monthly fee from the leading brands.

With the new competitors undercutting the established market leaders’ pricing, the initial manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is also playing a major role in the erosion of the top-players’ market shares. This factor, in combination with the significant increase in the total number of competitors, has placed added pressure on the industry leaders, such as Arlo and Nest.

Face recognition spurs brand recognition

Moreover, brands such as Swann, Lorex and Night Owl are starting to offer advanced features such as facial recognition, auto-tracking and battery-operated cameras that pair with network video recorders (NVRs). These features will add to the competitive pressure in the standalone network camera market through 2020.

The researchers suggest that product differentiators in 2020 are likely to include new features such as enhanced colour-night vision, audio analytics, edge-based analytics and agnostic storage options, such as the cloud, secure digital card (SD) or network-attached storage (NAS). Furthermore, many more brands are set to join Apple’s Secure Video, which will offer a secure and less expensive alternative for video storage compared to many options available today.

All things considered, Omdia predicts that 2020 will be another exciting year for the consumer and DIY video surveillance market.

In the latest from the security merger and acquisition block, Motorola Solutions purchased U.K.-based video solutions provider IndigoVision, marking the US communications giant’s second video-related acquisition after Avigilon.

The deal, expected to take effect in May 2020, is worth 30.4 million pounds or approximately US$37.2 million, translating into 405 pence per IndigoVision share or 129 percent premium over the company’s 177p closing price on the “last practicable date,” according to a March 17 filing by IndigoVision, which stands at No. 38 on a&s’s 2019 Security 50 compilation.

Both companies cite the deal is mutually beneficial. Notes Pedro Vasco Simoes, Chief Executive Officer of IndigoVision: “The access we will now have to Motorola Solutions’ range of innovative technologies will create new opportunities for IndigoVision and enable us to bring an exciting proposition to the market that allows us to further deliver on our goal of delivering safety, security and business intelligence.”

John Kedzierski, Senior VP for Video Security Solutions at Motorola Solutions, says: “We share IndigoVision’s commitment to providing next-generation, end-to-end video security solutions that enhance safety, security and efficiency. IndigoVision’s end-to-end offering, global presence and customer base will complement our existing and growing presence in video security and analytics.”

This of course is not the first acquisition of an end-to-end video solutions provider by Motorola, which has sought to add to its range of radio communications equipment portfolio video solutions and products to reach more vertical markets and end users. That rationale prompted Motorola in 2018 to make the $1 billion acquisition of Avigilon which has boosted Motorola’s offerings with cameras, VMS’s and storage devices.

Although the IndigoVision acquisition came at a much less cost, it’s nonetheless equally significant in terms of boosting Motorola’s standing in the video surveillance business. For starters, IndigoVision has quite a strong presence in EMEA compared to Avigilon which gets most of its revenu from North America. As indicated by its 2019 financial statement, IndigoVision’s 2018 EMEA revenue totaled $19.4 million, versus $13.1 million for North America and $7.9 million for APAC.

Further, Motorola sees further growth opportunities especially in the area of command center software platforms. This is a main reason why Motorola chose IndigoVision, which in 2019 itself acquired AgoraSys, a Portuguese spinout from the University of Lisbon which provides a unified command and control software platform that integrates different security systems from multiple vendors, including IndigoVision’s own Control Center video management software.

 IndigoVision stands to benefit as well by receiving “the support and resources” of Motorola, which says there are “excellent opportunities to replace current third-party manufactured IndigoVision products with Motorola Solutions products,” according to the filing. Further access to the US market is also cited: “The IndigoVision Directors also consider that the acquisition will provide IndigoVision with improved access to the US market in a way that would not otherwise have been available to it as an independent business,” the filing noted.

Milestone Systems’ Board of Directors announces that Lars Thinggaard, President and Chief Executive Officer, has decided to leave the company. As a result, the Board has started an open search to appoint a successor to Mr. Thinggaard. During the intervening period, Lars Larsen, Milestone Systems’ Chief Financial Officer, will serve as Interim CEO.

Following the announcement, Lau Normann Jørgensen, Chairman, Milestone Group, said: “I am very grateful to Lars for the energy, vision, and heart that he has dedicated to Milestone employees and the community partners. Please join me in wishing Lars the absolute best in all his future plans and endeavours.”

Lars Larsen, Chief Financial Officer and interim CEO said: “I would like to echo Lau’s thanks, Lars has played a crucial role in the development of Milestone. Looking ahead, Milestone is a strong company and well positioned to continue as a leader in the open platform video management software business.”

Lars Thinggaard has been President and CEO of Milestone Systems for 17 years and before this as a member of the non-executive board. For the last six years, since the company’s acquisition by Canon Group in 2014, he has led Milestone as a standalone company in the Group. Under his leadership, Milestone has developed into a growth company with a strong team and a great future.