Euralarm has published a new guidance document, Guideline on Disposal of Fire-Fighting Foam Media (UK & Europe), providing practical recommendations for the safe, compliant and environmentally responsible handling and disposal of fire-fighting foam media. The publication reflects the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape surrounding PFAS-containing firefighting foams and supports organisations in adopting best practice throughout the disposal process.

The guidance has been developed for manufacturers, service companies, installers, maintenance providers, end users and waste management specialists involved in the handling of fire-fighting foams. It covers both fluorinated and fluorine-free foam media, including AFFF, FFFP, fluorine-free foams (F3), Class A and Class F foams, as well as wetting agents and water additives.

As environmental legislation continues to tighten across Europe, the guidance explains the applicable standards and legislation governing foam disposal, including European fire protection standards, waste legislation and the latest restrictions on PFAS substances. It also outlines practical measures for handling, storage, transport and disposal, helping organisations minimise environmental impact while maintaining compliance.

A central message of the publication is that all fire-fighting foam should be regarded as potentially hazardous unless proven otherwise. The guidance emphasises that uncontrolled discharge to land, drains or watercourses must be avoided and that disposal should only be carried out through authorised hazardous waste routes. For PFAS-containing foams, high-temperature incineration at licensed facilities remains the preferred and, in many cases, mandatory disposal method.

The document also provides practical recommendations for servicing and maintenance activities, including the containment of foam during testing, appropriate storage and transport arrangements, and the recovery of waste foam from both portable extinguishers and fixed suppression systems. It encourages organisations to transition to fluorine-free foams where appropriate, remove legacy PFAS stocks and adopt closed-loop recovery systems to prevent environmental releases.

The guidance concludes with a simple but important principle that underpins the entire document: all fire-fighting foam should be fully contained, treated as potentially hazardous and disposed of through authorised hazardous waste processes in accordance with European standards and environmental legislation.

The Guideline on Disposal of Fire-Fighting Foam Media (UK & Europe) can be downloaded here.

Security across Munich’s U-Bahn, which comprises 100 stations and serves large numbers of passengers every day, is supported by a partnership between Securitas and Stadtwerke München through the Münchner U-Bahnwache model. Major events such as Oktoberfest present a particular challenge, as the sharp increase in passenger numbers requires even closer coordination, situational awareness, and timely response. The Münchner U-Bahnwache has been operating since 1989, with its officers patrolling stations and trains, assisting passengers, responding to incidents, and working closely with Munich police through joint patrols, training, and operational planning.

To prepare for such a demanding environment, officers undergo four months of training covering areas including first aid, self-defence, legal knowledge, and psychology. Alongside trained personnel, digital technologies and more effective use of information from the field are playing an increasingly important role in this security model. A digitalisation programme launched in 2023 replaced manual processes for recording patrols, observations, and incidents with a connected digital system, allowing officers to document activities and events across the network through the Securitas Guarding Platform.

This gives dispatchers a clearer overview of the situation across the entire network and enables more efficient deployment of resources, while Stadtwerke München can monitor security activities and reports through the MySecuritas platform. An additional layer of intelligence is provided by the Securitas Risk Intelligence Center (RIC), whose analysts monitor open-source information and assess developments that could affect the U-Bahn and the wider city infrastructure, with relevant insights incorporated into officers’ daily briefings.

By combining information from the field with broader risk intelligence, Securitas and Stadtwerke München aim to identify patterns and potential threats earlier, improve personnel deployment, and increasingly base the protection of passengers and infrastructure on a proactive approach.

In the new Edenya tropical world at Belgium’s Pairi Daiza, covering more than 40,000 square metres, TOA worked with local installer Eiffage-Collignon to implement a voice alarm and public address system for both everyday announcements and emergency communication. The solution is based on the decentralised VX-3000 system, comprising five 19-inch equipment racks interconnected via a fibre-optic network to ensure reliable communication across the entire site. Edenya comprises six themed indoor zones with different architectural and acoustic characteristics, requiring various types of TOA loudspeakers to be selected for specific areas.

Within the tropical garden itself, just 11 HA-2120EN Horn Array Loudspeakers provide intelligible voice communication over distances of approximately 150 to 170 metres. An additional seven CS-761BSW wall-mounted loudspeakers were installed along elevated rope bridges at heights of up to 17 metres, while ceiling and wall-mounted models cover public areas, accommodation, technical rooms, and service areas. Carefully configured delay settings allow all loudspeakers to operate as a single integrated system, providing consistent sound coverage throughout the vast space.

“Designing a voice alarm system for a tropical garden of this size required careful planning. The combination of the decentralised VX-3000 architecture and the HA-2120EN horn array loudspeakers allowed us to achieve excellent speech intelligibility across very long distances while keeping the number of loudspeakers remarkably low,” said Quentin Jacobs, Project Director for Edenya at Eiffage-Collignon. The system is EN 54-compliant and designed to operate reliably in a demanding tropical environment where temperatures can reach 40°C and humidity levels around 90 percent.

More information about the project, products used, and video is available from TOA Electronics Europe.

The global modular data center market is expected to grow from $41 billion in 2026 to $93.6 billion by 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent, according to new research by MarketsandMarkets. Market growth is being driven by rising demand for scalable digital infrastructure that can be rapidly deployed, the expansion of cloud computing, and the accelerated development of artificial intelligence-based applications. Additional momentum comes from edge computing, 5G, and growing data volumes, while the modular approach enables faster capacity expansion and shorter deployment times compared with traditional data centers.

Among individual segments, skid-mounted infrastructure stands out, with a CAGR of 21.2 percent expected through 2031, while all-in-one data centers are projected to grow at a rate of 19.6 percent. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing market, driven by digital transformation, expanding cloud services, and investments in data center infrastructure across China, India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and Southeast Asian countries.

Demand in the region is being further supported by the development of smart cities and national cloud infrastructure, as well as the expansion of AI, IoT, 5G, and edge computing applications. MarketsandMarkets identifies Dell Technologies, Vertiv, Schneider Electric, Huawei, Eaton, Rittal, Siemens, Johnson Controls, STULZ, Mitsubishi Electric, ABB, and Delta Electronics among the key global players, alongside a range of other manufacturers and infrastructure providers.

The research indicates that deployment speed, energy efficiency, scalability, and the ability to adapt to increasingly demanding AI and cloud workloads will be among the key factors shaping the future development of the modular data center market.

IDIS continues to invest in the open integration of its cameras with leading VMS platforms, including Milestone XProtect and Genetec Security Center. Over the past few months, several IDIS cameras have been added to the official compatibility lists for the two systems, enabling integrators and end users to deploy them within their existing security infrastructure.

For Milestone XProtect, supported models include the DC-S6481HRA, DC-D5531RA, DC-D5531WRA, DC-D4538WRA, and DC-T4538WRA, while the DC-D5531WRA, DC-D5511WRA, DC-D5531RA, DC-T5531WRA, and DC-Y8D11WRA have recently been added or confirmed for Genetec Security Center. This allows users already working with Milestone or Genetec to integrate IDIS cameras without being tied to a single closed ecosystem.

Support extends beyond live video and event management to include more advanced functionality. For IDIS fisheye cameras, for example, documentation is available for image dewarping within both VMS platforms. IDIS says this approach reflects the essence of open integration – the camera should fit into the chosen security architecture, not the other way around.

Hikvision has launched a series of short social media videos that use everyday scenarios to demonstrate the capabilities of artificial intelligence in video surveillance. Rather than focusing on traditional technical specifications, the company shows how AI can simplify video searches, reduce storage requirements, and make video surveillance systems easier to manage.

One example features the Hikvision AcuSeek NVR in a scenario involving the search for footage of a scratched car in a parking lot. Instead of manually reviewing hours of video, users can enter a text description of the event, allowing AcuSeek to locate relevant footage within seconds. The technology is powered by Hikvision’s Guanlan multimodal AI model.

Another short video focuses on Guanlan Encoding, Hikvision’s AI-powered video compression technology. According to the company, the technology can reduce storage requirements by an average of 30 to 50 percent, helping users save both storage capacity and associated costs.

Watch Hikvision’s video about the AcuSeek NVR

MOBOTIX has introduced the c ONE, a new compact indoor video surveillance camera that combines 360-degree imaging, integrated illumination, two-way audio, and local storage in a housing measuring just 120 millimeters in diameter. Its hemispheric sensor with 4K day-and-night imaging provides a complete view of a room from a single central position, while panoramic, quad, and detailed views can be generated from a single image. The camera offers a resolution of up to 2160 × 2160 pixels and Wide Dynamic Range of up to 120 dB, while in certain indoor environments a single c ONE can replace several conventional cameras, reducing the amount of hardware, cabling, and installation work required.

For operation in darkness, integrated IR LEDs cover areas of up to 25 square meters, while white light can be used for orientation or emergency illumination. The built-in microphone and speaker enable two-way audio communication, while recordings can be stored directly on the camera using a microSD card, with the standard 64 GB capacity expandable up to 2 TB.

In line with MOBOTIX’s decentralized concept, image processing, event detection, and recording take place directly within the camera, allowing the c ONE to operate without an additional server or cloud connection.

At the same time, it can be used as a standalone solution or integrated into a larger video surveillance system, including MxManagementCenter, MOBOTIX HUB, the MOBOTIX LIVE App, and ONVIF-compatible video management systems. The camera supports ONVIF Profiles G, S, and T, PoE Class 3, as well as MQTT, SNMP, and REST API interfaces, with options for local, NAS, NVR, or cloud storage.

Cybersecurity is based on the security architecture of the MOBOTIX ONE platform, including encrypted communication, controlled access, and long-term software support. The camera is primarily designed for environments requiring complete visibility, discreet design, and a reliable local system architecture, including control and command centers, server rooms, critical infrastructure, banks, retail and hospitality facilities, logistics and production sites, offices, and corridors.

More information is available on the MOBOTIX website.