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STM32L5 : Ultra-Low-Power Microcontrollers for a More Secured IoT

STMicroelectronics, is bringing sophisticated cyber-protection to power-conscious connected devices with the new STM32L5 microcontroller (MCU) series featuring the Arm® Cortex®-M33 core. Building on the Cortex-M33, which boosts protection for small devices by integrating Arm’s TrustZone® hardware-based security, ST’s STM32L5-series MCUs add further enhancements including flexible software isolation, secure boot, key storage, and hardware cryptographic accelerators. They also provide rich functionality, high performance, and long run-times powered by coin cells or energy harvesting. Consuming as little as 33nA in shutdown mode and achieving 402 ULPMark-CP in the EEMBC ULPBench, the new MCU series builds on the Company’s expertise in low-power techniques such as adaptive voltage scaling, real-time accel eration, power gating, and multiple reduced-power operating modes proven in previous STM32L series. “The STM32L5 series with trust zone and additional custom protection features considerably strengthens and hardens cyber-protection for small IoT devices,” said Ricardo De Sa Earp, Microcontroller Division General Manager, STMicroelectronics, “Also featuring our unique energy-saving technologies, rich connectivity, and smart digital and analog peripherals, these devices will be the first choice to host cutting-edge connected applications.” With extensive integrated digital and analog peripherals, and consumer and industrial interfaces such as CAN FD, USB Type-C™, and USB power delivery, STM32L5 MCUs provide an ideal platform for products such as industrial sensors or controls, home-automation devices, smart meters, fitness trackers, smart watches, medical pumps or meters, and many others. STM32L5-series microcontrollers are sampling now and scheduled to begin production in Q2 2019. “IoT devices are increasing in intelligence and functionality, and security needs to be built in from the ground up,” said John Ronco, Vice President and General Manager, Embedded & Automotive Line of Business, Arm, “Arm’s platform security architecture (PSA), a common framework for security implementation, aims to put security at the heart of IoT. The STM32L5 series makes it easier for developers to build trusted devices on the PSA framework with the Cortex-M33 processor, TrustZone technology and enhanced SoC security features.”  

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Intelligent Video: The Key to Transforming in-Store Shopping Experience

The retail sector has been felling the disruptive impact of e-commerce more than the most. The inevitable costs of staffing, rent, maintenance and daily operations has left traditional brick-and-mortar stores struggling to stay dynamic and compete effectively with their more agile online counterparts. Not only that, but the one competitive advantage of physical retail outlets – being able to provide a more personal customer experience – has also taken a hit in recent years, thanks to the lack of in-store and operational efficiency. Customers find it hard to locate the products they’re shopping for, are faced with longer queues for payment, and the most valuable ‘VIP’ customers are often overlooked. At a time when retailers should be striving to excel, this is a bad news, as a 2018 study from KPMG reinforces, “The customer experience is more important than ever as retailers are striving to differentiate themselves in a challenging and crowded market. Consequently, experience per square foot will be the new retail metric to measure success.” The question, therefore, is how can stores optimise operations and improve the customer experience at this critical time? Technology: At the heart of a better customer experience One challenge that retailers often face is not having a way to collect accurate data and visualise it intelligently in order to make smarter business decisions about the shop floor. For many, reorganising store layout and installing additional equipment is not a realistic option – either because there is no available space, or because of budgetary constraints. In these circumstances, an effective solution could be artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning. Together, these cutting-edge technologies create a video surveillance offering that can give retailers valuable insight into real-time operating conditions to boost customer service and in-store competitive advantage. Intelligent video technologies can be applied to retail in a multitude of ways. People counting Understanding the flow of customers is the key to optimising a store’s sales performance; and by using an accurate people-counting camera, stores can understand daily/ weekly/ monthly peak times, so that store managers can arrange staffing accordingly. What’s more, by layering this data over days, weeks and months, retailers can start to see and understand customer flow trends. The data can be benchmarked against the store’s sales figures and its overheads to inform future operational strategy and help managers optimise store profitability. Furthermore, people counting can also help retail managers gain insights into the customer experience. One example would be to evaluate the conversion rate, which depends on the actual number of purchases divided by the number of people entering the store. Retailers can calculate this rate easily using people counting technology. Even better, people counting can also help stores determine the results of their marketing activities. Each marketing campaign can be quantified by people counting to measure return on investment. This is just one of several technologies that provide insight into consumer behaviour and optimal marketing practices. VIP recognition Loyal high-end or VIP customers are enormously valuable to retailers, but service staff cannot always identify them immediately. This means that business operators miss valuable opportunities to extend a special service. Intelligent facial recognition cameras, however, can provide unique opportunities that were previously unavailable. When customers opt to participate in VIP marketing promotions or other incentives, facial recognition technology will give retailers accurate tools to identify VIPs so staff can provide the right kind of service at the right time. There would be no more need for customers to show membership cards to receive special offers. The whole shopping experience becomes more convenient and efficient. Heat mapping Retailers usually want to know which products customers are most interested in, and which promotional products can attract customers to stop. With heat-mapping technology, retailers can see a colour-coded map of how much time shoppers spend in specific store areas. This can reveal hot spots and dead zones, as well as how many people actually shop for a specific product versus those who just decide to pick it up as they casually walk by. By layering this data over time, retailers can get insight into how to best place items in store, and how best to design the overall store layout. One of the most useful heat-mapping tools available to the retail market is the fisheye camera. A single compact camera can capture a panoramic high-definition image over an impressively wide area, while its heat-mapping function provides the colour-coded map. Because fewer cameras are needed with most heat-mapping solutions, installation is cost-effective, making this the ideal solution for a location such as an independent shopping mall. Queue detection Worse still, if there is always a long queue every time they visit the store, they may avoid that store completely in future. Queue detection solutions can help retailers manage their checkout lines, and the queue detection cameras are designed to monitor queues in real-time. The cameras count the number of people in each queue, and if there are too many people in each checkout line and customers still continue to flock to the checkout area it triggers an alarm to store management, who can open a new checkout. Point of Sale integration Transaction records and surveillance videos can provide valuable information to reduce disputes at checkout. In the past, these are two completely independent data systems. In order to find the right video footage, the surveillance video must be retrieved manually. Therefore, collecting evidence around a transaction normally can take several hours, which is costly for the business. Point of Sale (PoS) integration, also known as PoS Text Overlay, is the uploading of transaction data to the video management system through the PoS and encoding it with the video stream. This combination of retail transaction data with surveillance videos makes it easy to identify certain transactions to be reviewed for customer complaints, mainly used for post-retrieval when a transaction disputes occurs. Intelligent video: Transforming the in-store shopping experience The intelligent, self-learning video solutions outlined above are designed to empower retailers with much of the insight they…

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The Top Trends of 2019

From the potential of 5G to the power of AI and more, our connected lives are being shaped by the growth of transformative technologies. Powerful on their own, these transformative technologies are now converging to change fundamentally how we interact with the world, how we do business, and even how we communicate with each other. As this convergence continues, formerly separate industries are intersecting in new ways, with new opportunities (and challenges) emerging. Evolution of transformative technologies: Market and technology capabilities continuously drive innovation Transformative technologies enable shifts in how enterprises function and how individuals live everyday life. As technologies become smarter and more sophisticated, and as markets evolve, transformation can begin in new industries. The rate at which we see these technologies take hold has grown rapidly in recent years. Major trends for 2019 Trend 1: Video Everywhere Video’s increasing ubiquity is forcing significant industry change as a growing number of players vie for consumer attention and revenue, and businesses adapt to cope with the rising demand. Driving forces for Video Everywhere trend include the rise of online offerings and platforms, including those from powerful new market entrants; increasing penetration of mobile connected devices capable of capturing and displaying video; advances in network and transmission technologies for sharing it; and the resultant explosion of user-generated content and social video. The trend affects not only media sectors such as TV, home entertainment, social media and games, which are at its heart, but other industries including security, education and healthcare as well that are becoming increasingly reliant on video technology. However, the Video Everywhere trend poses certain challenges that need to be resolved. Infrastructure, network capacity, and user experience Challenge: Current generation network infrastructure is not equipped to support the rapid rise in video traffic. Solution: Next-generation network investment is essential for supporting a reliable, high-quality user experience for a mass user base. 5G will be transformative for video, introducing the massive mobile broadband that will enable streaming of professional video and user-generated content at scale. Content and monetization Challenge: Service providers, broadcasters and platforms competing for a share of video revenues need the right mix of quality content, an expensive commodity that can be difficult to effectively monetize for a good return on investment. Solution: Investment in programming, whether exclusive or acquired, should be proportionate to a video provider’s ambitions and serve clear strategic objectives. Content services, features, and video-specific network access can all be monetized to varying degrees, but video can also serve bigger-picture goals. For telcos and bigtech firms, in particular, it attracts users to a bundle of services that collectively drive revenue and EBIDTA growth and boost customer stickiness. Video should therefore be positioned as a primary tool for elevating the overall value proposition. Privacy and data protection Challenge: Increasing video capture in daily life – whether from smartphones, wearable devices, drones, or satellites – will result in more and more images of private citizens being gathered, stored, and potentially shared. Advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, meanwhile, are enabling facial-recognition-based identification, potentially putting people’s privacy at risk. Solution: Governments and regulators must play a key role in protecting citizens, putting the appropriate policy, legislation, and tools in place to prevent breaches of privacy and data protection. Strategies of consolidated media and telco players to take shape in 2019 Fuelled in part by a fear of the threat posed by the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple, a spate of significant M&A activity in the media and telecoms industries has seen key players merge and expand. The impact of major deals involving AT&T and Time Warner, Disney and Fox, Vodafone and Liberty Global, and Comcast and Sky, respectively, will begin to become apparent in 2019, as the strategies of newly enlarged industry leaders take shape. Trend 2: The Edge The Edge broadly refers to processing traditionally performed in a cloud environment that is now being run closer to either the sensor data or the human-machine interface. It is changing the way networks are being deployed and devices are being built, plus enabling new revenue streams as compute resources are available closer to the end consumer. Driving forces for the Edge trend include – the top edge application is video content delivery; real-time or low er latency for time-critical workloads or safety applications; resiliency for situations where the network connection is not optimal or offline; data aggregation and the ability to filter in order to balance storage, networking, and compute; and security and privacy functionality centralized and enhanced – particularly in the IoT domain where end nodes might not be capable. The trend affects service providers, cloud providers, and IoT companies that are particularly centered in the edge discussion. The edge also impacts the entire value chain from semiconductor providers through OEMs to segments like media, security and gaming. The evolution of edge The emerging edge is a new and powerful set of locations for handling applications, and the edge can be anywhere. For example, a connected car is an edge on wheels. With so many target locations possible, some edge solutions will be built to handle less data for fewer users while others will be large and handle massive datasets for many users, including data centers distributed around a metropolitan area. New low-power, specialized chips will power edge devices, and while many people equate the edge with 5G, the edge and edge apps exist today, yet there have been very few 5G deployments to date. As the IoT universe expands to include more devices – some 20 billion units, according to IHS Markit estimates – the sheer scale of data generated in the future will render the current paradigm of a centralized cloud untenable. IoT edge processing saves upstream traffic and bandwidth by turning huge amounts of raw data into immediately usable decisions and directives to feed back to objects and devices downstream, and a much reduced and refined set of data to send upstream to data lakes and other decision-making systems. Barriers…

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Interaction with K P Dominic , 2019

K P Dominic National President, FSAI The third edition of Fire & Security India Expo (FSIE) 2019 is close at hand. It is to mark its debut in Mumbai at the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) from 28 February to 2 March 2019. The event is organized by NürnbergMesse India in co-operation with Fire & Security Association of India (FSAI). The trade expo is a multi-dimensional platform that combines solutions for passive, active and organizational fire safety and security management. It is to bring together official experts, architects and developers, MEP consultants, OEMs, security experts, building engineers, members of leading security and fire prevention bodies, as well as fire safety a security representatives from retail, hospitality, healthcare, real estate, facility management, IT-ITEs industry and other stakeholders to exhibit, gather knowledge, exchange ideas, debate innovative perspectives, solutions and products for fire safety and security. KP Dominic, the National President of FSAI, with 33 years of experience in fire and security domain, is one of the founding members of the association. Since its inception, he has been actively involved in developing the organization both in terms of size and value it can offer to all its members. KP Dominic is also the founder President of Singapore based company Blue and Gray, a brand building and business development consultancy serving well-known brands across India. He is also the Director of various businesses in Singapore, India, Oman and Dubai. Earlier, he played an important role in building the Honeywell Life Safety business, and establishing successful brands such as Mircom and Secutron in India. KP Dominic is also the founder President of Singapore based company Blue and Gray, a brand building and business development consultancy serving well-known brands across India. He is also the Director of various businesses in Singapore, India, Oman and Dubai. Earlier, he played an important role in building the Honeywell Life Safety business, and establishing successful brands such as Mircom and Secutron in India. Here are some excerpts: SecurityLink India (SLI): This is the third edition of FSIE, what are its USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) over last years, and how do you foresee its success? KP Dominic: FSAI is always in favor of adopting USP system with consistency and sustainability. In the context of FSIE 2019, we have formulated and carved out an exclusive and dedicated ‘Women & Children Safety Wing’ that is an important step considering the specific vulnerabilities this segment is subjected to. Accordingly, our future training strategy includes the aspect of empowering women and children for their own defense. In addition, we are also trying to inculcate the spirit of an added responsibility and sensitivity among others (members of society) to immediately come for helping them whenever need arises, considering it as a divine call of duty. SLI: Kindly mention some of the other events that FSAI organizes. KP Dominic: The significant events that FSAI organizes are Projects Heads, Architects, and Consultants Conclave (PACC), Conferences on Industry specific Safety & Security Challenges, and Motivational Awareness and Training programs for all stakeholders at grass root level. The beneficiaries are members of general public (mostly from rural areas), business organizations, industries, entrepreneurs, consultants, regulatory agencies, academic and professional training institutes, home makers/ school children etc., Such trainings also include practical demonstrations as well as mock-up emergency response exercises. Our association executes conferences/ seminars at international/ national/ state and regional levels. Besides, we conduct relevant security and fire safety contests and award schemes besides staging public functions to honor people who had displayed extra ordinary valor and courage to save lives and assets during difficult and emergency situations. To cap them all there are noble initiatives being taken up by FSAI to carry out blood donation camps as well as marathon races for propagating our pet ‘Surakshit Bharat’ campaign. SLI: What are the plans and initiatives that you have undertaken under your regime to enhance FSAI as an organization and its bearings on the industry? KP Dominic: Industry is the back bone of development. Government is also trying to ensure that the ‘Make in India’ initiative becomes a good boost for entrepreneurs zation – Govt. or Private – is duty bound to work together when augmented help is required by the government agencies, especially in times of exigency or emergency. Literally there cannot be any conflict of interest in this regard. In industrial situations this system already exists in the form ‘mutual aid’ arrangement during on-site or off-site emergencies. The most important factor in this situation is that the private agencies should always be ready to compliment Homeland security agencies like Police, home guard or CISF etc., wherever they are posted in the time of requirements. SLI: How have the safe and smart cities projects been doing so far, and what are the contributions of FSAI as the leading fire and security association of the country? KP Dominic: The ‘smart city’ concept is still at infant stage and a lot needs to be done to upgrade the available security system, considering the higher fire load, size, occupancy and other related security concerns (both personal and asset). Therefore it is too early to comment about the contributions we have made so far, except to mention that we have taken the related training programs, seminars and workshop in an ‘exclusive category’ and they are prominently included in the 2019 event calendar. SLI: There are rising cases of hospital fires, collapse of buildings and other lapses in the country. Where do you see the gaps and how can they be filled? KP Dominic: Yes; this particular agenda is the topmost among all our concerted endeavor and let me proudly state that 10 out of the 40 training programs in 2019 (as per FSAI event calendar) distributed among all chapters/ regions shall focus on this. The December 2018 session held at Bengaluru in this regard won many accolades to FSAI. SLI: What do laws and authorities of the land provision to check these lapses? Are they stringent and prompt enough, kindly make your recommendations? KP…

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Face to Face Interview with Pawan Desai, 2019

Pawan Desai CISA, CISSP, CBCP, Co-Founder & CEO, MitKat Advisory MitKat is a premium management consultancy specialized in risk management, which is primarily focused on global corporations, government departments/ multi-lateral organizations, and NGOs operating in challenging environments. SecurityLink India has recently got an opportunity to talk to Pawan Desai – CISA, CISSP, CBCP – Co-Founder & CEO of MitKat Advisory, who is one of Asia’s leading security thought leaders, speaker and author. Some excerpts: SecurityLink India (SLI): How do you define MitKat Advisory in essence, and how was it conceptualized? Pawan Desai: India and Singapore based MitKat Advisory is a leading risk consultancy company in Asia. Our mission centres around outstanding services to clients, being financially healthy so that we can reward ourselves and grow, and be a great place to work which consistently attracts, develops and retains best in class talents. SLI: What is your modus-operandi? Pawan Desai: MitKat works collaboratively with niche clients to promote business and protect their most valuable assets – people, information, material assets and brand. We consult, take ownership for implementation of recommendations and help sustain initiatives. SLI: Which are your key areas of excellence in terms of services and verticals? Pawan Desai: Information and advisory services (Threat Intelligence and Travel Advisory), security and safety consulting and design, operational support services, embedded security leadership, cybersecurity and business continuity plan (BCP), fraud and integrity risk management, training and change management, and so on. SLI: What is your priority sector – government or private, and why? Pawan Desai: We work with the world’s most respected corporations (more than 50 of the top 100 global brands). We also work on strategic projects with leading global NGOs as well as with government. SLI: How do you see the trend today in relation to L1 vs. T1? Pawan Desai: It depends on the maturity of the organization, and the priority they accord to the security of their personnel, brand and other critical assets. Most mature organisations have a value-based buying with a pre-defined percentage for technical competence as well as price. However, many organisations still have L1 bias, including government organisations. SLI: Please name some of your completed and pipelined projects, and which is your most satisfying one so far, and why? Pawan Desai: We provide Threat Intelligence and Travel Advisory to many of the world’s most respected organizations 24x7x365, and in the case of most of our customers the satisfaction rate is close to 100%. We have done. some of the most advanced security consulting and design projects, including envisioning and design of national level command and control centres. We have worked in war and insurgency impacted areas, saved lives, and calmed and helped people in crises – this is obviously very gratifying. Very tight non-disclosure agreements are a norm in our industry. However, we are always willing to share our learnings and experiences. SLI: How would you describe the security and surveillance business in India as on date, and where is the trend leading to? Pawan Desai: More and more organisations are moving from excessive human dependence (and associated vulnerabilities) to an optimum mix of people, process and technology. Organizations also want a standards and frameworks-based efficient security, and a consistent level of efficiency and user experience across the enterprise. SLI: New developers and technologies are emerging at a rapid pace; what would be its impact on the Indian market in the days to come, and what are your advices for the end customers? Pawan Desai: As minimum wages go up, the cost of compliance increases, breaches occur with alarming regularity (mainly due to human vulnerabilities) and regulators become unforgiving, more organisations are preferring to get professional consulting and design support, undertaking techno-infra interventions and strengthen processes to achieve better security and user experience at optimum cost. SLI: What would be the state of physical security personnel in the wake of emerging technologies, and how could the balance be established? Pawan Desai: Going forward, there will be fewer but better skilled and trained personnel. They would be more techno-savvy and be able to operate security technologies well. Soft skills will become more important as security personnel are usually the first point of contact. Many organisations are undertaking (with professional consulting support) cost optimization and performance improvement exercises centred around reducing/ optimizing guards, using technologies and strengthening processes. Some new age integrated corporate services providers are providing tech-enabled integrated facility, security and other corporate services as a bundled offering. SLI: What challenges or inhibiting elements (both legislative and otherwise) do you face in the industry, and what are your recommendations in relation to them? Pawan Desai: We need standards and frameworks for physical security. Current physical security legislation covers only manned guarding, and that too is getting outdated rapidly. We need integrated security standards, guidelines, frameworks to cover other stakeholders such as consulting and design companies, security OEMs and system integrators, employers etc. SLI: How have the safe and smart cities projects been doing so far? What are your contributions towards these projects? Pawan Desai: Smart cities program is a great initiative but implementation record has been mixed. Different cities are making progress to different degrees. Some like Pune, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar etc. are doing relatively better. Some cities are making good progress in specific parameters – like Indore in cleanliness. Consultants or so called project management consultancies (PMCs) are in place but strictly speaking, there is no project to manage. Project management involves feasibility study (Go/ No Go), DPR, design, design development, tender development and tendering – all of these take time. Unfortunately, the emphasis due to various other considerations is just to get the tenders out at the earliest. The role of ICT is being overplayed and the urban infrastructure design does not get the place of pride. What needs to be understood is that before a city tries to make itself smart, basics need to be in place. Sometimes unfortunately, provision of basics like water or sewage disposal is being confused with. Projects are being…

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LEGIC: Access Control Management with KESO Integra

Integra is the perfect access control system for new builds, which are to be equipped exclusively with high-tech master key systems. In contrast to purely electronic access control systems, the Integra digital system also integrates mechanical locking systems and maps them in the same software. Modular in design, the access solution can be expanded indefinitely – from a stand-alone to an offline and online solution. There is a basis for all access solutions – the k-entry® software. KESO Integra cylinder: flexible and secure The Integra cylinder combines digital access control with the field of mechanics. Equipped with the latest RFID technology and AES 128-bit encryption, it offers high security and high flexibility. It can be operated intuitively, as well as by means of the familiar mechanical cylinder. The corresponding keys are used for mechanical and mechatronic cylinders. The Integra cylinder is the preferred choice in all general areas in which permissions on doors are constantly adapted and high security is required. It is also ideally suited for outdoor areas e.g., wherever higher security and time restrictions for access authorisations are required. A software and a key that can do everything Like the management software, the Integra key belonging to the cylinder is equipped with functions that enable coordination between all door components in the KESO access system of the building. This is true, whether it is a purely mechanical cylinder or an Integra reader, every KESO Integra key fits – it just has to be assigned the relevant access authorisation. Two separate technologies are often used on the key for mechatronic access solutions – one for the access reader and the other for cylinder actuation. This means that management involves a lot of work. The patent-protected KESO Integra key is only based on one technology – Dual Interface, which combines both functions. The new KESO Integra cylinder is also suitable for metallic environments. This offers the major advantage that the KESO mechatronic cylinder works behind an armoured cover and can therefore also be used in doors with high resistance classes. The cylinder is designed for both the LEGIC advant and the MIFARE DESFire technology, so the user is free to choose.  

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ULISSE EVO: The Next Stage of PTZ Camera Evolution

Videotec announces the ULISSE EVO camera, another technologically innovative step forward in their pursuit of increasingly high-performance and reliable video surveillance products. This new versatile PTZ camera offers performance, competitiveness and design at an unprecedented level. The result of meticulous and dedicated planning, ULISSE EVO is a combination of technology and design that guarantees the highest levels of security for monitoring urban areas, critical infrastructures, transport, traffic and railways (in accordance with the railway standards). The super low-light, full HD, 1080p, 60fps IP camera with 30x optical zoom and integrated Delux technology offers unbeatable clear and detailed images with vivid colours, day or night. The camera’s motion detection function, with privacy masking feature, allows intelligent management of areas and immediate raising of alarms if an unwanted intrusion is detected. ULISSE EVO can operate with maximum efficiency constantly, even in the presence of hostile environmental conditions and temperatures from -40°C to +65°C. The IK10 and IP66/ IP67/ IP68 protection ratings guarantee maximum resistance to dust and severe weather, hard impacts and vandalism. The camera is also equipped with a wiper to ensure a clear view in any environmental conditions. An LED illuminator is available to give visibility even in total darkness. This comes as a separate accessory, with 850nm, 940nm or white light, and can be integrated directly into the unit. The camera will automatically recognise the type of illuminator installed and calibrate the light beam accordingly. ULISSE EVO stands out due to its modern, linear design that combines maximum strength and operational reliability with greatly reduced weight. This means easy and quick assembly, and therefore lower installation and maintenance costs. ULISSE EVO can be installed in different ways, even in the inverted position typical of the speed domes, using the large variety of brackets and adaptors available to satisfy every installation need. The brackets are also available with quick connectors for Ethernet/ PoE, for power and I/O, which allow fast and easy installation operations. ULISSE EVO is available in two standard colours black or grey-white to suit specific application requirements.

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New Portable Beam Barricade

Delta Scientific, the leading manufacturer of counter-terrorist vehicle control systems used in the United States and internationally, has recently announced its new DSC1500 portable beam barricade that sets up quickly and temporarily to block vehicles. The new portable barricade secures locations during short-term events and anywhere a beam barricade is needed for interim security. With a clear opening of 16 feet (4.8 m), the DSC1500 is M30 certified, able to stop a 15,000 pound (66.7 kN) vehicle going 30 mph (48 kph). “Many organizations have the need for easy to install, temporary drop-arm barriers that can install within 10 minutes to transitorily close down a roadway to one or two lanes or block parking lot exits to deter thefts,” emphasized Greg Hamm, Vice President, Marketing, Delta Scientific, “Previous beam barriers had to be filled with sand, gravel or cement to be operable. To remove the DSC1500 from its temporary site, it is simply repacked in ten (10) minutes.” The DSC1500 tows into position to control vehicle access within ten minutes. No excavation or sub-surface preparation is required. Once positioned, the mobile barricades unpack themselves using manual hydraulics to raise and lower the barriers off their wheels. A self-deploying trailer with integrated lifting device facilitates rapid installation. The process is simply reversed when the event is over or the time comes to deploy the beam barrier at another location. “From a purchasing standpoint, it can be easier to buy portable beam barricades than permanent solutions,” added Hamm, “The latter are often placed into an organization’s real assets budget because they are permanently installed into the ground, becoming part of the property. Such budgets can often create complex purchasing scenarios for law enforcement or public safety departments. However, purchasing portable beam barricades is no different than buying protective vests for personnel or new sets of wrenches for the maintenance department.”

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Pankaj Dharkar Interview 2019

Pankaj Dharkar  President, PDA Consultants Pankaj Rajendra Dharkar, who was elevated form National President to International President of Fire & Security Association of India (FSAI) last year, has been passionately involved in providing innovative and energy efficient design solutions for building services for more than three decades. As the National President of FSAI, he took several remarkable initiatives which fructified well and became instrumental in the significant growth and expansion of the association. Fire and Security India Expo (FSIE) is one of those initiatives that he launched in 2017. Pankaj Dharkar established PDA (Pankaj Dharkar & Associates), a renowned MEP and Green Building Consulting Engineering Firm in 2006. In its constant dedicated pursuit for technical excellence, PDA has earned the reputation of providing quality engineering services in the field of designing and coordination of HVAC, IBMS, PHE, Fire Protection and Detection, Electrical, ELV, Lighting, IT, AV and Green Building Certification. PDA has the knowledge, experience and technical advancement to meet and exceed the anticipation of clients. It coordinates and executes wide range of projects of various applications such as hotels & resorts, offices, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, R&D labs, textile plants, commercial buildings & shopping malls & multiplexes, software and IT parks, high-rise apartments, banks, educational facilities, jewellery shops, manufacturing plants & garment factories, showrooms, exhibition centers, libraries, banquet halls, studios, cold storages etc. Fire and Security India Expo (FSIE) 2019 is close at hand; SecurityLink India recently spoke to him to understand his views on the current security and fire safety scenario in India, his plans and initiatives as the International President of FSAI and the journey of PDA. Some excerpts: SecurityLink India (SLI): What is the concept of green constructions and how far would it be able to reverse/ balance the environmental loss/ imbalance? Pankaj Dharkar: The green construction covers conservation of all aspects such as energy consumption, water consumption, lighting design, indoor air quality, choice of construction material, land fill, green areas, use of local material, architecture designed to provide optimum window wall ratio, orientation of buildings, use of renewable energies like solar and wind and geo thermal energy etc. Green building is an integrated approach of architect, MEP consultant, lighting consultant, landscape consultant and the structural consultant which yields the desired results. The world does not have option but to opt for green technologies if we want our future generations to have sustainable life. SLI: How far the laws and rules of the land provision for the propagation of green constructions and what more do you recommend? Pankaj Dharkar: There is a good and increased awareness in the government which can be felt by the way the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) has functioned in the last few years. Their insistence to adopt Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) and the latest National Building Code (NBC) has automatically helped the country move towards more sustainable projects. PWD/ NBCC have started going with green certifications. Currently India has four green certification possibilities – GRIHA, IGBC, USGBC, and ASSOCHAM GEM. Some of the states and corporations have started giving incentives for additional floor area ratio (FAR) etc. I do believe states and central governments should come up with innovative concessions to inspire all developers/ stakeholders to ensure that only green constructions happen in the future. Currently the penetration of green buildings is just 5%. It is said that 70% of India still to be built by the year 2030. It is therefore important that the government create massive awareness programs. ECBC got implemented when the government introduced star labelling programs and advertised it extensively. Today each house lady knows that a five star AC or refrigerator is more efficient and saves energy for the household and these informed house ladies help their husbands make smarter choices. Similar revolution happened in lighting when LED was promoted by the government. I firmly believe similar initiatives have to be taken by the government for green buildings as well so that end customers (occupants) start demanding for green homes and offices from the builders and developers. Surely this will propagate green building environment in the country. SLI: How have the safe and smart city projects been doing so far, and what is the percentile of them on the ground promoting green constructions concept? Pankaj Dharkar: Out of 100+ smart cities proposed by the Prime Minister many have started shaping up. Each smart city has different vision and mission based on various constraints and challenges the city is facing. Two major green field projects which are fast taking shape are Amravati and Gift City near Gandhinagar. I’m fortunately associated with many buildings taking shape in Gift City and taking care of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-fighting (MEPF) and green building consultancy work at the Gift City. I am very glad to put on records that this project is implementing all possible green aspects and smart city visions which includes centralized district cooling, centralized garbage collection system, centralized sewage treatment plant (STP) and water treatment and several new concepts for fire control & a centralized command center. The list of initiatives at Gift City is endless. I strongly recommend people to visit Gift City and witness how the Prime Minister’s vision of smart city is getting implemented. SLI: Kindly share some of your completed and pipelined green projects Pankaj Dharkar: PDA has completed and been associated with 60 projects which include 14 Platinum rated buildings, 17 Gold rated buildings and 3 GEM certified buildings. The total area of green projects covered by PDA as of today is 1,80,00,000 sqft. SLI: Which are some of your most satisfying projects so far and why? Pankaj Dharkar: The best project for me will always be Facet Diamond (Surat), having close to 3000 workers engaged in diamond polishing/ processing work. This project was completed in year 2003, though we went for certification in the year 2014 and achieved a platinum certification. This was the first project in diamond industry globally to get platinum certification. Also since this was completed…

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COSEC Access Control Solution for Medium and Large Enterprises

Matrix COSEC Access Control Management is a comprehensive and flexible solution designed to meet access control needs of medium and large enterprises. This access control software allows controlling access on three dimensions simultaneously – user, zone and time, by answering three fundamental questions about who, where and when. In addition, the software ensures security of employees and assets with the help of value-added features like anti-pass back, 2-person rule, first-in user, blocked users, door auto re-lock, guard tour, man-trap and smart card based identification. 65,000 devices and one million users. Web based software module. Centralized monitoring and control. Multiple access control policies. User, zone, time based access. Informative reports. SMS and email notifications on exception. Integration with third party hardware.

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