The national railway company of Belgium, NMBS/SNCB, has successfully deployed a real-time location service platform with BEEKs Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) beacons from HID to accurately monitor train location and ensure on-time departures.

NMBS/SNCB maintains and operates 3,607 kilometres of track and approximately 30 train stations throughout Belgium with passenger safety and on-time departures serving as key priorities. Prior to the HID solution, when an approaching train reached a preset GPS coordinate, an app on the onboard attendant’s smartphone would signals software at the station to start running the digital safety-check programme to ensure passengers can safely disembark and the train can depart for the next station on schedule.

However, many locations such as tunnels, have limited cellular coverage. When this happens, the train’s GPS location can appear as far as 10 kilometres away from the station, thwarting the entire safety check process.

“We knew we had to find a different way to mimic someone’s location within the vicinity of the station. That is when the idea of using HID beacons to transmit a specific ID came into play,” explained Nathan Willekens, Innovation Project Manager, NMBS/SNCB.

NMBS/SNCB deployed HID Global’s real-time location services (RTLS) platform and BEEKs Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) beacons on its platforms to ensure the safety check process would not be compromised. Now, when the system detects the Bluetooth device, it is given priority over the potentially inaccurate GPS signal.

“We were impressed not only with the accuracy — we knew with more certainty that the train was in the location identified by the beacon — but also by the efficiency with which the beacons were able to operate and the area they could cover,” said Willekens.

According to HID Global, NMBS/SNCB is planning the system to be deployed in at least 10 additional stations across Belgium.

The Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA®) Continues to Innovate

for the Industry, By the Industry

The Open Security & Safety Alliance (OSSA®) was founded in late 2018 by major industry stakeholders to enable an influx of innovation across the security and safety markets. Our industry body is comprised of member companies from all facets within the security, safety and building automation categories – and together we work to 1) create device harmony, 2) ensure proper matching of demand and supply between devices, apps and audiences and 3) ensure we adhere to appropriate cyber security standards.

Specifically, over recent years, our members helped guide the creation of open standards that (when applied) allow for easy and cyber-secure integration of third-party AI analytics applications to run agnostically on video cameras, gateways and other computer vision/smart camera devices. This group of industry experts drives an open platform principle to open up the industry and take IoT security and IoT surveillance to the next level.

Our first issued specifications include:

• OSSA® Application Interface Specification: This technical specification defines a set of four interfaces which collectively enables third-party software applications to run on video security cameras following the common OSSA Technology Stack.
• OSSA® Compliant Camera Definition Specification: This technical specification sets the core system requirements for video security cameras following the common OSSA Technology Stack to provide a basis of trust and to ensure app interoperability across vendors.
• OSSA® Camera Cyber Security Specification: This technical specification contains definitions and guidelines regarding mandatory and optional cyber security measures for cameras. The mandatory part of these guidelines will be used as an input for the OSSA certification framework that’s forthcoming.

Hardware manufacturers simply design IoT smart cameras according to OSSA specs, and end-users gain access to an unfolding forum of AI advancements and business opportunities (see Driven by OSSA details and products here). Technology company and OSSA member Azena created a corresponding and agnostic operating system (OS) that connects with the industry’s biggest online Analytics App Store in support of this collaborative issue.

Making Data Flow to Enable Flexible IoT Solutions

Now, in 2022, we are further refining the Alliance’s focus by standardizing consistent and uniform data interpretation and consumption, thereby opening the door for security and safety solutions and sensors to gain a better understanding of each other’s data sets.

Members are expanding their attention from realizing third-party applications on brand-agnostic cameras and AI boxes/gateways, to designing corresponding ontologies and communications protocols to further unlock data produced, stored and (currently) confined to millions of “things” – things that have the potential to share important digital data that can help us not only ‘see’ but more importantly ‘sense’ and ‘understand’ what’s happening across an area under surveillance. For example, providing the ability to intelligently cross-reference or combine data from a simple CO2 meter with that from other “things” such as video security cameras to detect and respectively verify if a meeting room is occupied or not.

The Alliance’s push to make the sensing data that our industry constantly produces better and more uniformly consumable and interpretable across the aisles (i.e., across brands, devices, applications and beyond) is an important next step for us all. Tapping into stagnant data reservoirs and enabling resources to securely flow data outside of current digital siloes will open up a tremendous new corridor of IoT-based possibilities.

More good work needs to be done. And we welcome additional industry experts and innovators to join our effort. Participation levels are flexible and completely up to you. We offer very affordable membership levels – and there is an open seat waiting at the OSSA table for anyone with an interest in bettering our category alongside other forward-thinking individuals and organizations.

We look forward to more good industry collaboration from the Adria Security Summit October 5-6 in Croatia. Stakeholders from all areas within the security industry continue to meet up at points around the planet to align and bring more intelligence to our security and safety systems. OSSA’s security alliance members are at the center of important orchestration – and we look forward to bringing new participants into the fold to help steer the next chapter in security. Connect with us here!

Whereas Avigilon has been a Premium Technology Partner of Advancis ever since last year already, Advancis is vice versa now also part of the Technology Partner community of Avigilon.

Avigilon Control Center (ACC) video management software is completely integrated in the Winguard open PSIM platform from Advancis, so that it is possible to observe live streams, control cameras (PTZ), request playback videos, and more. Advancis’ Winguard ACC integration is compatible with ACC6 and ACC7 versions.

Laura Flamm Technology Partner Manager at Avigilon, states: “With this integrated solution, situational awareness is enhanced for the end users and provides efficient and intuitive security information management capabilities.”

The video surveillance market is projected to grow from USD 48.7 billion in 2022 to USD 76.4 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 9.4% during the forecast period. A number of factors, including increased camera capabilities, maturing technology, features, and customised systems, are making it easier for integrators to meet the demand from end users willing to upgrade legacy surveillance systems to meet their security and operational needs. This is according to the latest information coming out of the research company, Marketsandmarkets.

Security concerns and advancements in technologies demand real-time remote monitoring on any device at any time by end users such as retail stores, manufacturing sites, enterprises, warehouses, and banks to detect unusual events on their premises.

Storage devices hold the largest share

While DVR’s are considered as cost effective storage solutions, NVR’s provide an IP based recording solution over a centralised network providing more flexibility than DVRs. With the growth of IP cameras that record videos at higher resolutions and framerate, some of these cameras simultaneously record sound alongside the video. These factors have increased the storage requirements; hence, storage devices are projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period compared to cameras, monitors, and other accessor.

IP surveillance systems to show the highest growth

Along with the basic features, advanced IP cameras have enhanced filtering capabilities that can monitor the image and video data even in low light conditions. The network interface and PoE interface are used to transmit the data over a network. For advanced camera features, such as PTZ and PWM, motor drivers can be used to rotate the camera with PTZ capabilities. Although the upfront cost of IP video surveillance systems is higher compared to an analogue CCTV system, the total cost of ownership (TCO) over time is lower compared to analog video surveillance systems. Analysts found that some of the strongest players in this field include Hikvision, and Dahua Technology, Axis Communications, and Bosch Security and Safety Systems are among the major players providing IP video surveillance systems consisting of cameras, storage, and software.

City surveillance boosts infrastructure vertical

City surveillance is the dominant application for the video surveillance infrastructure market and is projected to grow at a high rate. An increase in investments by governments of various countries to increase safety levels in public places is also projected to boost market growth. The increasing number of smart city projects will require the implementation of various security and surveillance systems, thus driving the growth of the infrastructure market during the forecast period.

Fastest growth comes from APAC countries

Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest-growing region in the video surveillance market owing to heavy investments in infrastructure and smart city projects. The use of security cameras in Asia Pacific is expected to increase owing to the massive deployment of city surveillance networks in China to monitor millions of citizens across the country. The increasing urbanisation in Asia Pacific has led to the development of new cities and manufacturing and retail industries, among other application areas in other countries. The rising penetration of surveillance cameras in small and medium-sized enterprises, hospitality businesses, airports, ATMs, banks, residential buildings, and religious places, among other places, is also expected to drive the video surveillance market growth. According to Marketsandmarkets, the major players in this region include Dahua Technology, Hikvision, Hanwha Techwin, and Uniview.

Genetec, Motorola Solutions and Milestone Systems continued to grow their combined global share of the market for video surveillance software and service agreements in 2021, according to a new report from Novaira Insights. The research shows that this global market was worth $2.4 billion in 2021 with around 68% of this outside China. The, so-called, “big 3” grew their combined share of the market for video surveillance software and managed services to over 35% in the world excluding China.

The supply base for video surveillance software outside China remains very different to that of the Chinese domestic market. China continues to be mainly served by large domestic vendors. In contrast, the world excluding China is served, not only by the big 3, but also by a multitude of other suppliers, each with a small market share of less than 3%.

Novaira Insights’ latest report, “The world market for video surveillance hardware and software”, shows that, outside China, the market for video surveillance software and managed services grew quickly at 10.1% in 2021, as restrictions on movement due to the Covid-19 pandemic eased and pent-up demand for video surveillance equipment was served.

According to Jon Cropley, principal analyst at Novaira Insights, “An important factor in the big 3 continuing to grow market share in future will be their strategies for cloud. We are forecasting that the market for cloud video management software will grow much faster than the market for on-site video management software licenses. So far, each of the big 3 has adopted a different approach to cloud so it will be interesting to see how these approaches evolve going forward”.

The pandemic appears to have catalysed interest in cloud video surveillance. 53% of respondents in a Novaira Insights 2022 survey of North American end-users indicated that the pandemic had either started, accelerated, or greatly accelerated their organisation’s cloud strategy specifically related to video surveillance. Furthermore, 68.3% of respondents thought their organisation will move to managing or storing more of its video surveillance data in the cloud in the next two years.

According to lead analyst and founder of Novaira Insights, Josh Woodhouse, “The medium-term future for many video surveillance installations will be largely a hybrid approach in which software is hosted off-premise in the cloud but a primary tier of video storage is on-premise. Cloud storage will likely be increasingly used but this will be often in conjunction with on-premise storage tiers.”

In new data released by the Home Office, statistics show that the vast majority (98%) of confirmed automatic fire alarm incidents are false alarms, while only 2% were a result of an actual fire in 2020/21. This is down from 3% from 2019/2020.

The majority of false alarms (90%) are due to ‘false apparatus’, with 2% deemed as malicious. 6% are a result of ‘good intent’.

The overall number of fire incidents from automatic fire alarms in 2020/21 was 129,221 – a decrease of over 6.5% on the previous year. Of those that were confirmed fires, 1,855 were from dwellings, 740 from ‘other buildings’, 52 from secondary fires, nine from ‘other outdoors’, five from road vehicles and four from chimney fires.

Automatic fire alarms are designed to sent a signal once a fire is detected via the fire alarm panel straight to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) for the local fire and rescue service to respond to. Some fire and rescue services now also require a confirmed fire before responding, due to the high number of false alarms received, though many do not, such as the London Fire Brigade, who will response to every alarm unless a false alarm is confirmed beforehand.

(IFSEC)

Johanna Wretdal has been appointed as Iloq’s CMO, and she will also become a member of the company’s management team. Prior to joining Iloq, Johanna was the CMO for Silo AI.

Johanna is equipped with two decades of global experience, ranging from local startups to internationally listed, leading organisations. She will take overall responsibility of the company’s marketing and communications agenda, along with playing a key role in ensuring an end-to-end brand development that ultimately supports the organisation’s strategy. Johanna holds a Master’s Degree in Economics (Management & Organizations) from the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration (Hanken).

“I am excited to become a member of the Iloq family, and together with the team and customers boost further impactful growth!” says Johanna Wretdal.