Security cameras made by Chinese company Hikvision can no longer be installed in or on government buildings after cabinet minister Oliver Dowden declared them “current and future possible security risks”. This came after calls for a nationwide ban by a group of MPs and peers, but doesn’t go far enough, according to the UK’s outgoing biometrics and surveillance cameras commissioner.

Hikvision is partly owned by the Chinese government and is the largest CCTV provider in the world, serving schools, public institutions and secret laboratories in the UK. It supplies up to 60% of UK public bodies with CCTV cameras according to a report by Big Brother Watch, which found that the cameras from Hikvision and Dahua, another partly Chinese government-owned manufacturer, were used by 73% of local authorities, 35% of police forces and 63% of schools in the UK.

The new decision by the UK government includes a ban on the future installation of any security cameras made by companies subject to Chinese security laws and came after a review of the security risks linked to surveillance systems on the government estate.

“The review has concluded that, in light of the threat to the UK and the increasing capability and connectivity of these systems, additional controls are required,” Dowden wrote in a statement to parliament.

Over a million of these cameras are thought to be on buildings across the UK, including on government and publicly owned property.

In a statement to the media, Hikvision said it was “categorically false to represent Hikvision as a threat to national security.”

“Hikvision is an equipment manufacturer that has no visibility into end users’ video data,” the Hangzhou-based company said. “Hikvision cannot access end users’ video data and cannot transmit data from end-users to third parties. We do not manage end-user databases, nor do we sell cloud storage in the UK. Our cameras are compliant with the applicable UK rules and regulations and are subject to strict security requirements.”

MOBOTIX AG confirms that all MOBOTIX products and systems comply with the requirements of the United States National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and are 100% NDAA-compliant.

The NDAA Section 889 contains a new set of guidelines that allow for increased protection against espionage and hacker attacks. In addition, there are named Chinese companies that produce components used for telecommunications purposes, (including security products) that will be no longer be acceptable.

For clarification purposes, MOBOTIX does not use any SoC (System on Chip) or any other components that are capable of processing software from Chinese companies. Furthermore, MOBOTIX products that are sourced from its OEM partners (Original Equipment Manufacturers) are also 100% NDAA compliant. MOBOTIX has clearly demonstrated a defined 3-step self-certification process that its products and systems do not contain forbidden components.

“MOBOTIX technology is not only a world leader from a quality perspective, but also from a data and cyber-security perspective.  It has always been extremely important for us not to use components from risky suppliers to protect the security of our customers and partners through our own design.” explains Hartmut Sprave, CTO of MOBOTIX AG.

According to a research report published by Marketsandmarkets, the smart cities market is expected to grow from USD 511.6 billion in 2022 to USD 1024.4 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 14.9% during the forecast period.

The smart cities market is growing due to the rising need for public safety and advanced communication infrastructure, growing adoption of connected and smart technologies, rising energy optimisation requirements, and intensifying citizen engagement.

Smart transport

By smart transportation solution, passenger information management is expected to register the fastest growth rate during the forecast period. The passenger information system is an important link between passengers and transit service providers and keeps travellers updated quickly and precisely. It focuses on the current location of the bus, estimated arrival time and departure time, and vacant seats and keeps the passenger updated. It is an electronic operating tool that provides its passengers with, at any given time, visual and acoustic information to passengers on a route, both automatically and programmed manually.

Building automation

In terms of the actual smart buildings, it is the commercial sector that the analysts estimate will account for the largest market share in 2022. The HVAC, smart lighting, and monitoring are some of the important factors affecting the comfort and productivity of employees in commercial settings. HVAC control systems provide precise temperature control and improve the air quality in commercial buildings. The automation of building temperature, security, and maintenance increases the overall efficiency of commercial buildings. The energy performance of commercial buildings is a major challenge for the commercial sector as these buildings consume higher energy and generate more waste in the form of carbon and other solid wastes. Therefore, appropriate and tailor-made solutions are needed for optimised energy performance to reduce building energy consumption without compromising comfort or security.

Dynamic urbanisation

Geographically, Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing market for smart city solutions due to the adoption of new technologies, rising investments in digital transformation, and growing GDP in the Asia Pacific countries. Developed economies, such as China, Japan, and South Korea, which are the most technologically advanced, are the highest contributors to the smart city market in the region. The region also constitutes major economies, such as Singapore, Australia, and India. As the world’s most dynamic region for urbanisation, Asia Pacific is home to a majority of developing Asia Pacific members experiencing rapid urbanisation. Major vendors such as ZTE, Huawei, and NEC Corporation have already invested huge amounts in telecom infrastructure, and this spending is expected to increase. Due to the large number of 5G deployments and initiatives taken by major Asian mobile operators to resolve the problem of high bandwidth requirements, the smart cities market in the Asia Pacific is expected to have enormous growth in the coming years.

Main market players

The major vendors covered in the smart cities market include Cisco, IBM, Siemens, Microsoft, Hitachi, Schneider, Huawei, Intel, NEC, ABB, Ericsson, Oracle, Fujitsu, Honeywell, Accenture, Vodafone, AWS, Thales, Signify, Kapsch, Motorola, GE, Google, TCS, Nokia, Samsung, SAP, Tomtom, Appway, Ketos, Gaia, Takadu, Flamencotech, Xenius, Bright Cities, Maydtech, Zencity and Ixden.

The world’s population has now reached the landmark figure of eight billion people, according to the United Nations. However, one billion people still have no legal identity and are thus excluded from social participation and the opportunities of the modern world. About 237 million children under the age of five do not have a birth certificate. With this having serious implications for those individuals, Veridos is committed to supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of giving all people a legal identity by 2030.

“A legal identity is the prerequisite for modern life in a connected world. Only a legal identity enables to uphold fundamental rights and participate in social, political and financial life,” explains Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO at Veridos. “We firmly believe that a legal identity is a human right. That’s why we are striving to develop both secure and innovative identity technologies that enable governments to guarantee this right to their citizens.”

Official identity documents, such as passports and birth certificates, do not only establish a sense of belonging for individuals, but they also guarantee them access to social benefits and services such as healthcare, education, humanitarian aid and financial support. They also enable them to exercise fundamental rights such as the right to vote or inherit.

Internationally recognized documents enable people to travel across borders for business and tourism. But they also allow them to receive medical care abroad or pursue specialized or technical education in  foreign countries. Finally, identities give citizens secure access to important services for economic growth, such as setting up a bank account.

For these reasons, Veridos supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which calls on all countries to provide all citizens with a legal identity by 2030. Veridos is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a worldwide pact between the UN and companies for the social and ecological shaping of globalization.

Following initiatives from the European Commission regarding legislation promoting the data economy, Euralarm has raised concerns over specific provisions in the proposed Data Act that may generate security risks.

In particular, Euralarm notes chapter II of the proposal that makes the sharing of data with third parties mandatory.

Euralarm’s position is as follows:

“Data related to security activities are linked to critical and very sensitive operations and procedures. With access to this data, it would be possible to gain a very deep understanding of the installation and performance of the system or service. This would result in a very high risk of security breaches, including cyber security breaches, both to a given customer installation and to the whole security system itself.

“Furthermore, the criticality of data generated by security systems (such as video surveillance systems) is already recognised by national laws regulating private security and the installation of video surveillance systems. These laws limit the right to share information related to or generated by these systems. The data sharing provisions of the draft Data Act are therefore in conflict with these national laws.

“Finally, access to pure operational data/metadata does not provide any benefit to the end-user, neither allows a smoother switching of provider. Therefore, there is no benefit in allowing/imposing any requirement in the way the data has to be accessed or managed.”

In a recently published Position Paper Euralarm proposes several amendments, as well as a new article to the draft Regulation in order to exempt security-related data from the obligation of sharing. Services Directive 2006/123/EC excludes private security services from its scope via Article 2(2)(k). Euralarm therefore believes that a similar exemption in the Data Act should be feasible.

A copy of the Position Paper can be downloaded from the Euralarm website here.

Data security for companies is critical: the legal and reputational risks and the harm caused to individuals when it falls into the wrong hands can be significant. Impressed by its global footprint, a data centre company chose G4S to design, install and maintain a security solution for its new site in Oman.

G4S has been active in Oman for over two decades and is a known name in the fire and security sector. Its customers range from banks and hotels to defence and energy companies, and specialises in introducing new technologies. In 2019 a Nasdaq-listed data centre company called on G4S’s expertise to design, install and maintain an integrated security solution for its new site located 65km from the capital city, Muscat.

G4S’s brief was to cover building and perimeter surveillance as well as staff and visitor access control. Crucially, this all needed to be accessible on a single platform for use by the company’s in-house security team.

Sumit Arora, Managing Director of G4S in Oman, said: “We created a state of the art security solution by bringing in multiple products under one single software platform for monitoring and control. This includes different types of cameras like thermal and infrared, as well as a gate automation and alarm systems.

Top of the range equipment was sourced from across the world, while Amag Technology, a manufacturing company owned by Allied Universal, supplied the access control and video management systems – the backbone of the integrated security solution.

The data centre is now used by some of the most recognisable tech brands in the world. G4S continues to carry out periodic maintenance checks and also provides 24/7 support to reduce downtime in case of any system faults.

Reflecting on the project, Sumit said: “Our involvement in the project began when the data centre was still a greenfield site, so we really were involved in its whole life cycle. Coordination and project management is key when you’re working on something like this, which involves multiple teams and equipment; but we really enjoy it because it’s very collaborative and is as far away as you can get from being transactional.”