MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink India - securitylinkindia

Building a Future-Proof Data Processing Solution with Intelligent IoT Gateways

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaFebruary 2, 2018November 14, 2024017 mins

To date, most discussions about the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) have been about connecting new devices and rapidly bringing them online. In this white paper we look at the implications of bringing such a large number of devices online, namely, the need for efficient methods to collect information from these devices, and discuss how to handle the large amount of data collected from these devices. Industrial IoT solutions are judged on their ability to adapt to various data acquisition needs and how they can transform the data collected from devices into useful business insights that can help decision makers. What makes an Industrial IoT solution truly stand out is the flexible data handling possibilities that it can provide. However, providing efficient, reliable and maintainable data handling as part of an Industrial IoT solution presents significant challenges because of the very nature of data-management solutions that exist today, which are designed mainly for information technology (IT) applications. System integrators looking to deploy IT solutions in the Industrial IoT world are faced with complicated requirement specifications and have to spend a lot of time and money customizing these applications to suit specific industrial automation (IA) requirements. Key challenges In the following sections we discuss some of the key challenges of converging IT solutions with the Industrial IoT. Customizing applications for the Industrial IoT Most solution integrators are not familiar with the various fieldbus protocols used by field devices in industrial automation. They typically end up deploying standard data management solutions that can cater well to IT applications but cannot support the data-acquisition, storage, processing, transmission, and data-analytic needs of industrial automation solutions. Furthermore, the solution integrators might not have the necessary skills to customize these data management solutions for the needs of the Industrial IoT. A customized solution that can fill the gap between the IT and IA applications is required. IT experts, who are oriented more towards the needs of business applications, need to be trained on the critical requirements of industrial applications so that they can build data solutions that are a good fit for Industrial IoT solutions. Customized Industrial IoT solutions It is common knowledge that any customization of controllers, data loggers, and routers requires huge investments of time and money. Embedded computers are highly customizable, but you have to build what you need from scratch. An intermediate solution that combines the capabilities of a controller, data logger, router, and customized software will significantly shorten the time-to-market. Such a ready-made solution will allow you to focus on your core competencies rather than build a customized solution. Easy-to-Use GUI for data acquisition A configurable easy-to-use GUI (graphical user interface) for data acquisition, which allows an IT expert to handle the popular Modbus protocols in industrial automation applications without the need for any additional programming will take the pressure off the field engineers who can focus on the tasks that they are good at. Achieving seamless integration of data Edge devices are deployed and used every day to fill the information gap in the field. These devices operate based on different Modbus protocols or may sometimes use proprietary protocols. The deployment of these edge devices is widening the boundaries of a traditional enterprise into spaces that were never before imagined. Centralized data management systems must be able to integrate disparate data types from these devices and add the relevant contextual dimension to the data to create a unified view of the operations for effective system management. The volume of data that is generated by the edge devices is growing exponentially. Industrial IoT solutions must include a strategy to handle such large volumes of data. Industrial IoT applications should have the built-in ability to respond locally to a field alert and take corrective action at the device end to enable faster response time instead of transmitting data to a centralized data management system. The process of transmitting data to a centralized system for processing could take up to a few minutes, which could be too late if it involves data relating to critical industrial processes. Local intelligence and edge-computing One strategy to achieve faster response time is to deploy Big Data solutions, which are expensive and require skilled personnel. Alternatively, you can process data locally either in the IoT gateway or at the device-end and make decisions locally, which is much faster. Then, only critical data needs to be sent to the central system after data is processed locally. Solutions that support such local intelligence will also help in reducing the data load on an industrial network. On-demand communication An Industrial IoT Gateway is a critical component of an effective Industrial IoT solution. The gateway is used to mass-deploy devices at the field site, acquire data from these devices, and route this data on demand to the central system, to other devices, or to a remote site. However, the complexity of routing heterogeneous data in a network and the stability of the network link might hinder the progress of your solution deployment, and create bottlenecks for remote data transmission. An IoT solution that can simplify data acquisition from devices that use the most popular Modbus protocols and route this data using built-in 4G LTE communication capability will enable efficient, on-demand transmission of data, and faster response times. Developing a future-proof solution Keeping in mind how rapidly the Industrial IoT field is changing, a scalable solution that can adopt and implement a new technology will give you good returns on your investment. For example, if your service provider decides to upgrade to a newer technology like 4G LTE, substantial changes in your network infrastructure might be required to maintain basic connectivity. Older communication standards such as 3G may no longer be supported and you will have to upgrade to the new technology. As more and more service providers jump on the 4G LTE bandwagon, the sooner you adopt this new technology the better off your business will be. Rather than wait for the change to swing into action, a better solution…

Videonetics Appoints General Manager

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaFebruary 2, 2018November 14, 202403 mins

Videonetics has appointed Sarang Suhas Deshpande as General Manager – Strategic Alliances and Pre-sales. He will be playing an instrumental role in defining and implementing strategies for expanding business along with fostering deeper engagement with key influencers comprising consultants, system integrators, and end-users, to name a few. Additionally, as a strategic focus, Sarang will continue to further strengthen the company’s business in smart & safe city vertical along with large enterprise market. Sarang brings nearly 20 years of experience in Security Engineering, Security Audits, ERP, e-Governance and Networking. He has a proven track record of consistently working on security projects ranging from city surveillance, campus surveillance, access control project, industrial and residential security projects and so on. Prior to joining Videonetics, he was spearheading MIPL, and was responsible for security audits, systems planning, designing security networks, guide the organizations on information systems and e-Governance applications. Commenting on the appointment, Avinash Trivedi, VP-Business Development at Videonetics said, “We are excited to have Sarang joining Videonetics as part of the leadership team to further develop market for Videonetics across the country. His deep experience in the IT & Security market will add greater depth which will be vital for our ambitious growth plans.” On his appointment Sarang Suhas Deshpande expressed, “I am excited to join Videonetics, an Indian company that is doing pioneering work in visual computing and surveillance space globally. I am eagerly looking forward to this exciting challenge to further strengthen Videonetics market leadership position and create newer markets.

NSF Certifies Oncam 360-Degree Evolution Camera

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaFebruary 2, 2018November 14, 202403 mins

Oncam broke new ground as its award-winning Evolution Stainless Steel camera earned the coveted Standard 169 accreditation from NSF International. The innovative and robust 360-degree camera from Oncam is the first and only surveillance camera of its kind to receive the NSF mark in the ‘Special Purpose Food Equipment and Devices’ category. Oncam’s Evolution Stainless Steel camera series has gained recognition for its ability to cater to more extreme environments that require exceptional resistance to corrosion. The camera boasts an IP69K rating, the highest protection rating available against weather, water, and dust, as well as an IK10 rating against vandalism. It can be washed with high-pressure jets of more than 1,000psi at up to 80 degrees celsius, enabling it to withstand demanding environments. The system is ideal for surveillance applications in diverse arenas like food processing facilities, industrial and chemical plants, vehicle wash stations, and ports and marine applications, amongst others. In addition to resilience, its premium material and stylish design make the Oncam Evolution Stainless Steel camera a complementary addition to any architecture. The latest accreditation, as well as the multiple other awards and commendations the product has received, highlight how its premium material and build quality make it ideal for security applications in challenging and harsh environments. “The NSF mark is a testament to the design of the Evolution Stainless Steel camera series, and underlines Oncam’s commitment to quality, compliance and safety. Its robust build brings unrivalled possibilities to environments with stringent sanitation requirements and adds diversity to our existing line of 5MP and 12MP cameras,” said Abhishek Kumar, Regional Director, South Asia, Oncam, “The Evolution Stainless Steel cameras are designed to be visually appealing and to provide exceptional protection from the elements, while offering the same quality and technological innovation which Oncam is famous for to its customers.”

ULIS’ Thermal Activity Sensor for Smart Buildings Projects

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaFebruary 2, 2018November 14, 202405 mins

ULIS Thermal Activity Sensor (TAS) for detecting true presence and people counting has been selected by Irlynx for integration in its advanced smart building device, People Sense™. Irlynx will field test ULIS’ thermal sensor in several pilot studies it is undertaking with GE Digital, NEXITY and SNCF, among other smart occupancy and people counting projects linked to optimizing open space areas and reducing building footprint. The global market for IR sensors in smart homes and buildings is expected to grow from $694 million in 2016 to $1068 million in 2022. Both ULIS and Irlynx manufacture thermal vision products to meet emerging needs in workspace management, energy management, security and safety. ULIS is the only manufacturer to produce, in mass volume, advanced occupancy sensors that give system integrators the flexibility to modify key parameters within the thermal sensor to match system requirements. “ULIS is pleased to enable deployment and testing of a people counting solution using its newly designed Thermal Activity Sensor,” said Hien Pham Gia, Sales and Marketing Director at ULIS, “Irlynx has provided ULIS with additional opportunities to obtain valuable end-user feedback based on real-life experiences. This will allow us to confirm the key benefits of our sensor, as well as further strengthen its value proposition for facility managers.” Irlynx developed the electronics as well as the algorithm for the TAS to perform thermal video data analysis and to activate the people counting function. Irlynx’s task was made easier since in using ULIS’ sensors the algorithm could access raw data directly from the sensor. This eliminated the need for Irlynx to carry out complex calibrations. “Irlynx was looking for a partner with great technology and a good understanding of our markets, where cost is key. ULIS demonstrated that it could adapt to its offer and address this challenge. Its technology allows us to deliver an unmatched value proposition to the smart building market, with a greater performance/ price ratio than any existing people counting solution,” said Guillaume Crozet, VP Sales and Marketing at Irlynx, “We also deliver advanced human activity data such as people’s position and trajectories, and desk occupancy, increasingly of great interest among our customers.” Advantages of ULIS’ space occupancy sensor One key advantage a thermal sensor offers facility managers is that it comes without facial recognition, an important feature to preserve the anonymity and privacy of subjects, for example, when monitoring a building. Furthermore, compared to other thermal technologies, ULIS’ TAS offers a wider field of view up to 120°, meaning that fewer devices are required to cover large surface areas. Customers have several options available for tuning ULIS’ TAS for specific application requirements. One option is to work directly on raw video data (true 14 bits parallel bus), which is easily interoperable with standard microcontrollers and low-cost FPGA. System integrators can also optimize the sensor’s power consumption and use it with a standard battery lasting three or more years.

Feature

FICO PREDICTS AI and Blockchain to Meet in 2018

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaFebruary 1, 2018November 14, 202405 mins

The growing use of blockchain technology in financial services will include a healthy dose of artificial intelligence, as new, automated analytic techniques look for patterns in the ‘relationship data’ about people, contracts and transactions. That merger of two hot tech trends is one of the predictions made by Dr. Scott Zoldi, Chief Analytics Officer at Silicon Valley analytic software firm FICO, and a recognized expert in the field of artificial intelligence. “Beyond its association with crypto-currencies, blockchain technology will soon record ‘time chains of events,’ as applied to contracts, interactions and occurrences,” Dr. Zoldi wrote on the FICO Blog, “Think about renting a car. In the future, you will be able walk up to a car to lease it, but you’ll do so with a micro-loan for which you are approved to lease the car for, say, an afternoon. This micro-loan will have insurance contracts attached to the blockchain, and a codified history of the car’s history of drivers, events, and maintenance. As you drive through the city and interact with toll roads and parking spaces, all of this information will be automatically recorded and monitored on the blockchain. When you leave the car and lock it, the lease is complete and auditable on the chain. These kinds of data event chains will create new opportunities for graph analytics and novel new AI algorithms to consume relationship data at scale.” Zoldi, who leads the team that builds FICO’s AI analytics for solutions such as fraud management and cybersecurity, also sees a rise in what he calls “defensive AI.” “Attackers use malicious AI and ML to circumvent the protective systems companies have in place,” he wrote, “This arms race, in which criminals arm themselves with adversarial machine learning, tops McAfee’s 2018 security forecast. In 2018 we will see new systems that will seed their outputs with ‘faint signatures’ to mislead, confuse or identify the attackers learning the AI system’s response.” As chatbots get smarter and use more AI, they will not only understand us better, they will also be better at manipulating us, Dr. Zoldi predicts. “By quickly understanding the tone, content and predicted highest-value conversational paths to meet various objectives, chatbots using AI can also learn the magic words to sway our attitude, actions and possibly elicit en masse reactions,” he wrote. Dr. Zoldi’s other predictions for AI in 2018 are: AI will have to explain itself. “The need for Explainable AI (XAI) is catalyzed by regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires explanations for decisions based on scores, including those produced by AI and ML systems.” AI will augment us. “Whether it’s drawing the information together for us to be superhuman at investigation, data recall, or improving how we learn new topics, AI will augment our ability to process new information. The question will be as to whether our human brains will atrophy, improve or simply evolve to the rate and frequency of data.” AI will get operationalized. “In 2018, companies will focus on operationalizing AI, particularly in the cloud, to more easily build, refine, deploy and enhance machine learning environments.”

Genetec Security Center 5.7

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 29, 2018November 14, 202405 mins

Genetec Inc. has recently introduced a new version of Security Center, an open-architecture platform that unifies video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), communications, and analytics. Security Center 5.7 allows users to make insight-driven decisions based on security and analytics data. This latest version also adds privacy protection for individuals, efficiently distributes HID mobile access control credentials, and ensures business continuity with native access control fail-over. Protecting data, the network, and the organization Cyber resilience is about securing communications, authenticating users, and protecting businesses from employees unwittingly allowing vulnerable network-connected devices to threaten the business. To improve overall cybersecurity, Security Center now automatically identifies whether connected edge devices are running the most recent and secure device firmware. Once notified of known vulnerabilities and given firmware recommendations, administrators can take immediate action and eliminate known security gaps. ‘GDPR-ready’ privacy and video analytics More than a trend, protecting individual privacy is fast-becoming a necessity of security management. In some regions like Europe, it is already becoming codified in law. By embedding the KiwiVision™ Privacy Protector ™ module, Genetec enables organizations to automatically blur and mask sensitive video, and anonymize people to protect their privacy. Privacy protector was recently re-certified for its fourth consecutive term with the European Privacy Seal (EuroPriSe), and remains the only video solution to hold this certification.Privacy protector is also rated as ‘GDPR-ready,’ meeting the stringent compliance criteria of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will go into effect May 25th, 2018 in the European Union. The KiwiVision Intrusion Detector™ module is also unified with SecurityCenter 5.7 to generate real-time alarms that automatically notify security staff when individuals or vehicles enter sensitive areas, secured perimeters, or restricted zones. Through an accompanying analytics-based intrusion report, operators can now engage in deeper investigations. Additionally, to assist users in scanning through hours of footage, a new Quick Search forensics tool identifies changes in recorded scenes in seconds, ignoring irrelevant footage to narrow down searches. Enterprise access control with native failover and HID mobile credential support The Security Center Synergis™ access control system now comes with built-in failover, so customers can take advantage of continuous monitoring of devices and events. This safeguards critical information and ensures business continuity, even when servers fail. The new HID Mobile Access Portal API integration allows organizations to efficiently deploy mobile credentials to their employees, contractors, and visitors. These credential holders receive an email to download the HID Mobile Access Portal application on their devices, which enables access via Bluetooth® or NFC wireless technology. Employees and visitors will now be able to use their smartphone, wearables, and tablets to gain approved access credentials to securely open doors and defined areas of the premises. Insight-driven reporting and decision support The new advanced Security Center reporting feature intuitively displays data in dynamic charts and graphs, helping organizations gain a deeper understanding of their data, identify trends, and spot undetected patterns. Visualization of physical security data can be employed to quickly isolate security gaps and suspicious activity, identify maintenance issues, find valuable opportunities to improve operations, and ultimately make smarter decisions.

Top Four Smart Cities Predictions for 2018

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 27, 2018November 14, 202405 mins

Global smart city market growth will accelerate in 2018 according to a new report from business information provider IHS Markit. The report reveals that options are quickly expanding in the market, thanks to narrow band- Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and long term evolution category-M1 (LTE Cat-M1) deployments. In its Market Insight report, IHS Markit divides the IoT market into the following categories – connect, collect, compute and create. The following describes the top four trends within these categories, which will shape the smart city market in 2018 and beyond. Funding on the rise Lack of funding has been one of the main issues within the smart city market, however, new public and private initiatives are tackling this problem – fostering market growth for 2018 and beyond. Few initiatives were launched in 2017, but more are expected to come in the following years. Australia and other governments recently launched national challenges and funding in order to speed the growth of their smart city sectors. The industry is also providing funding. For example, in November 2017, Cisco announced a $1 billion financing program to help cities develop smart city solutions. Smart city platforms “The smart city platform is the brain enabling the creation of a smart city, shattering siloes and unlocking its real data-driven potential,” said Pablo Toma-si, Senior Analyst, Smart Cities and IoT, IHS Markit, “They are a key element for the long-term smart city vision, and companies of all types are focusing on them. Multiple competitors have found opportunity in the platform space, including network vendors, telecom operators, software vendors and application providers. Along with market expansion in 2018, competition among platform developers is ramping up.” Technologies on top of IoT New technologies are also expanding on top of the IoT. “Machine learning and artificial intelligence, edge computing, drones and blockchain are now part of smart cities,” Tomasi continued, “Their importance will grow in 2018 and they will doubtless play a defining role in the future.” Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) include video analytics and chatbots, like those deployed in Los Angeles this year to provide citizens with information and answers about city services. There is also increasing industry attention on edge computing, as Microsoft, Huawei and Dell focus on these types of solutions. Drones, used for maintenance and security, and blockchain, used to improve government services, will also accelerate in smart cities. Line between smart homes and smart regions Smart cities are now entering the smart home through mobile apps and digital assistants. To communicate with their citizens, Los Angeles and Las Vegas both launched Alexa skills in the last two years, and Las Vegas even created its own channel, bringing city content to owners of Apple TV and Roku. “These types of developments are not the end of the road, rather the starting point,” Tomasi concluded.

Cisco Survey : Revealing Divide Between IoT Value and Trust

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 27, 2018November 14, 202406 mins

Cisco has released the findings of its first IoT Value/ Trust Paradox report, based on a survey of 3000 consumers, designed to provide businesses with actionable insights on how to increase consumer confidence in and adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) services. Cisco has released the findings of its first IoT Value/ Trust Paradox report, based on a survey of 3000 consumers, designed to provide businesses with actionable insights on how to increase consumer confidence in and adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) services. While the survey reveals that consumers are willing to accept risk and trade off value for trust, they do so reluctantly. Their desire for transparency and visibility into how their data is being used remains strong. Companies that can resolve the paradox for their customers have the opportunity to accelerate and sustain the growth of their IoT businesses. The data Awareness: More than twice as many consumers recognize personal IoT devices than public ones. When consumers were provided with a broad list of devices and asked to identify which were part of the Internet of Things, 63 percent on average correctly identified personal IoT devices (wearables, home security systems, and so on), while only 27 percent were aware of public IoT implementations (street lighting, energy meters, traffic systems and so on). Value: Across the IoT spectrum, the perceived value that IoT brings to consumers’ lives is quite high. 53 percent of respondents feel that IoT makes their lives more convenient, 47 percent say IoT makes them more efficient, and 34 percent say IoT increases their safety. Trust: While consumers are seeing increasing value in IoT services, they are very concerned about the security of their data and how it is being used. Only 9 percent of respondents say that they trust that their data collected and shared through IoT is secure. And only 14 percent feel that companies do a good job of informing them what data is being collected and how it is used. The IoT paradox: Consumers value IoT but don’t trust it. Despite this lack of trust, they are not willing to disconnect. 42 percent said that IoT is too integrated into their daily lives to disconnect from these devices and services, regardless of the perceived risk. “As more companies build their businesses around IoT services, they need to first understand the importance of educating customers on how they are using their data to deliver new, valuable services that will enhance their lives,” said Macario Namie, Head of IoT Strategy at Cisco, “Consumers are asking for more visibility into IoT data practices, mand to increase transparency around your IoT data governance and management, you first need to be able to determine who gets what data, where and when. Today’s IoT platforms solve this problem and can give you the ability to enhance consumer confidence and trust, which can lead to greater adoption of your IoT services.” The Cisco® IoT Value/ Trust Paradox report recommends businesses to use these insights and implement the following steps to address the gap between value and trust in IoT: Establish a clear, concise data policy and share that with your users: Companies must be able to provide transparency into how they are using and securing data and how this helps improve their customers’ experiences. Take granular control of your data: To increase transparency around IoT data governance and management, companies first need an IoT platform that can help determine who gets what data, where and when. Create accountability throughout your IoT value chain: Companies must evaluate all the providers in their IoT value chain and put IoT solutions in place to enforce minimum security standards and requirements so they can hold each provider accountable.

UL Full Scale Live Fire Test with IITGN

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 27, 2018November 14, 202405 mins

UL a global safety science organization, in association with Centre for Safety Engineering (CSE) at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) conducted a live fire test at the institute’s Palaj campus. This test is the fifth in line, after the first four tests conducted last year as part of Phase 1, revealed immediate issues and concerns that needed attention in order to improve fire safety of building envelopes. The test involved setting a three-storey building on fire to study the impact of dangers posed by modern construction methods and materials, thereby defining the need to modernise fire engineering. The building comprised of an insulating material along with an ACP-glass facade, and was conducted in the presence of several stakeholders including fire experts from India and the US, researchers, practicing engineers, policymakers, contractors and manufacturers. UL and IIT Gandhinagar had joined hands last year, with the understanding that fire safety as part of disaster management is the topmost priority, given the increasing use of facades of different types (glass, aluminium, composite etc.) in building construction. A spate of accidents in India and elsewhere underlined the need for rigorous standards and codes in this area. Suresh Sugavanam, UL’s Managing Director of South Asia said, “Over the last one year, our association with the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar and the commitment to study fire safety has opened the doors to several interesting and important findings. This partnership is helping us realise our safety mission while working towards developing India-specific fire safety standards. We are extremely pleased to release the research findings of the Phase I project, titled ‘A first of its kind report on glass façade testing project: Research on glass façade fire testing.’ This live fire test as part of the second phase will further help us in gaining insights in order to recommend relevant standards and solutions.” Prof Sudhir K Jain, Director, IITGN shared his insights on the fire tests and said, “The installation of glass, aluminium or composite facades was found to be the culprit of few major building fire accidents in the recent years in India and abroad. It is expected that such tests will provide scientific insights into the interaction between insulating materials, facade materials and building compartments in realistic fire scenarios and help improve their safety.” Earlier during the day, a discussion on building facades and fire safety was conducted were research findings of the Phase I of the IITGN-UL project were also presented and discussed, and the formal report of findings was released. Titled ‘A first of its kind report on glass façade testing project: Research on glass façade fire testing,’ the report was released at the hands of Prof Jain and Mr Suresh Sugavanam. Eminent speakers included D K Shami, Fire Advisor, Ministry of Home Affairs; Dr. Pravinray Gandhi, UL LLC; Mr. Sugavanam; and Prof. Gaurav Srivastava, Principal Investigator of the Project, IITGN. Additionally, the William Henry Merrill Fire Engineering Laboratory was also inaugurated by Prof. Jain and Mr. Sugavanam. The centre reinforces the strong commitment of IIT Gandhinagar and Underwriters Laboratories towards enhancing safety within and outside India.

The Value of Intelligent Solutions For Hospitality Security

MassMediaLink India LLP SecurityLink IndiaJanuary 27, 2018November 14, 202409 mins

The hospitality industry is constantly evolving. Hotels focus on leveraging technology to enhance the user experience, which includes streamlining processes and adding additional amenities that draw repeat visits. At the same time, efforts to maintain the safety and security of individual hotels and hotel chains face a sea change. Although security began as a property protection function, it has broadened to include plans to mitigate several types of threats, ranging from fraud and malfeasance to terrorism to response to major events including natural and manmade disasters. It is clear from the growing demand for technology solutions within this segment that hospitality is very focused on ensuring a safe environment for those inside the facility. Hotels strive to deliver exceptional customer service while balancing the safety and security of guests, employees and visitors with a welcoming environment. Modern risks, including those related to cybersecurity, liability and compliance, have propelled the need for stringent yet creative security strategies to be integrated into a hotel’s overall business strategy. As hotels don’t report incidents, there is limited public data regarding the safety and security of these properties. However, it’s still clear that threats exist in hotels and resorts. A 2009 study that examined crimes reported by 64 Miami Beach hotels to the Miami Beach Police Department showed that theft is a chief problem, with nearly half of the 756 reported crimes being thefts. Growth ahead Threats like those mentioned above continue to be a significant driver in the deployment of video surveillance, video intelligence technologies and other security systems. The demonstrated value of video drives further interest in surveillance platforms, and this along with other factors propels the use of video surveillance as it continues to advance globally. According to a 2017 report from Research and Markets, the video surveillance market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.6 percent from 2017 to 2023, with hospitality, healthcare and education verticals forecasted to grow at an even higher rate. Technology plays a critical role in the effectiveness of a security function in all organizations, and the hospitality industry is no exception. In research conducted by Professor Alexandros Paraskevas, Chair in Hospitality Management at the University of West London, with assistance from the International Centre for Hotel and Resort Management, a large majority of hotels reported that video surveillance is by far the ‘core’ solution in use today. According to one participant, “95 percent of the discussion on security technology investment is about video surveillance.” Most executives consider video to be the leading investment, used as a deterrent or as an investigative tool. It is predominantly used in a reactive, not proactive manner. Even though technology is considered a force multiplier, many hotels struggle with allocating sufficient budget for security measures. Security investment within the hospitality sector is typically a ‘reluctant spend’ since it is not considered a revenue generator. That does not mean that the hospitality industry doesn’t prioritize security, it’s just a matter of setting the right mindset. Owners and managers who realize the importance of employee and guest safety, and the overall benefit of security are keener to discuss investment. This is why security leaders must be willing and able to educate senior leaders on the technology being proposed. As video surveillance becomes more prominent as a business operations tool in addition to a critical piece of a comprehensive security plan, valuable innovations such as panoramic and 360-degree cameras and video analytics, are important tools to reduce cost and increase coverage of large areas such as hotel lobbies and parking lots. But these products are only one piece of the puzzle – a comprehensive security solution can not only prevent and provide investigative/ forensic support, but also reduce insurance premiums and increase business. It is critical that video cameras and other security solutions are integrated to form a more comprehensive view of a hotel’s overall security posture. Simple, intelligent systems that bring information to the operator are optimal because they help hotels gain new levels of intelligence to help mitigate risks more effectively and proactively. The future is now Advancements in technologies propel new ways for security technology – most predominantly video – to be leveraged throughout an organization. Video data can be leveraged for additional uses that span several departments including business operations and marketing. The capital investment in video capture technology then becomes more widely distributed as more departments utilize the information, going from a required ‘grudge purchase’ to a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of operational benefits. For example, the future of analytics provides heat-mapping functionality that hotels can use to identify busy areas for target marketing. Users can analyze traffic and people flow, and use that information to determine how to best use specific areas. With facial recognition software, hotels can better address the needs of VIPs by allowing hotel staff to be alert when a frequent guest arrives. How’s that for customer service? Hotels and resorts can use advanced technologies to better serve guests in an effort to deliver the kind of personalized service that customers will come to expect from their visit in the future. This will allow brands to build long-term relationships and ensure return visits, leading to increased revenue streams and a successful sustained business model. At the same time, hotels will be able to realize new levels of safety and security to keep their most important assets protected. Author:- Abhishek Kumar ( Regional Director, Southeast Asia, Oncam)