Celebrating a Decade of Mobile Connectivity Proxim Wireless Corporation has recently announced the ten year anniversary of connectivity for the Tenerife Tram Network. Located in the Canary Islands, Spain, the Tenerife Tram, is a light rail/tram system that runs across the main Island of Tenerife, passing through underground tunnels and along high-speed expressways and winding around corners and densely populated localities on the Island. Since the commencement of the tram service in 2007, Proxim’s high performance Tsunami® point to multipoint mobile network solutions have off loaded live feeds from HD cameras deployed along the rail track and in the vehicles to the local NOC and security center. The deployment takes advantage of Proxim FastConnect® – Proxim’s advanced mobility technology, WORP® – wireless outdoor routing protocol for guaranteed QoS and triple play application support, and Proxim ClearConnect® – suite of dynamic and adaptive, interference mitigation radio frequency technologies. The deployment includes 63 Tsunami® base stations along the 16 km track and 25 subscriber stations, transmitting video feeds from the onboard surveillance cameras in the vehicles to the base station units deployed trackside. “I am glad to announce that in the last ten years we have seen no significant downtimes in the network. Proxim’s solution just performed seamlessly – consistent speeds at all times,” said Pablo Martín, IT Director, Tenerife Tram, “Our security teams are able to view high quality video feeds from all the cameras connected via Proxim’s Tsunami® radios.” “Ten years of operations for a complex deployment such as this proves our commitment to high performance and reliability,” said Greg Marzullo, CEO and President, Proxim Wireless, “We at Proxim are dedicated to offering maximum value to our customers, and will continue to offer reliable solutions designed for mission critical applications such as the Tenerife Tram. In an era of disposable technology our customers understand that when performance matters, Proxim is the best choice for long term reliability and return on your investment.”

The company implements SCATI video surveillance system in order to manage the security of its headquarters and other buildings all around the country Telefonica is a Spanish telecommunications company that provides service and support to more than 322 million customers in 21 countries, Mexico among them. The goal of the company is to facilitate communication between people, providing the most secure and advance technology in the market. With this philosophy, the security department chooses to establish a comprehensive video surveillance platform, able to guarantee permanent monitoring, with agile and efficient management from the control center; furthermore, an extended storage solution facilitates the analysis and the delivery of the information with quality in the shortest time possible. Solution The solution implemented by SCATI in the headquarters of Telefonica- Movistar in Mexico DF includes more than 200 recording platforms, located in different buildings all around the country. Its main goal is to develop a powerful video surveillance network with more than 3,000 cameras connected. This facility is managed with the SCATI tools: SCATI WACTHER, SCATI ROUND and SCATI WALL. They are all managed from Telefonica’s control center. The SCATI VISION recording platforms offer high availability and fault redundancy, and also a new point of view to mass storage needs with high-capacity and performance. This way, the management of the recording platforms is carried out through SCATI WATCHER, a solution that enables the operator to cover all possible needs such as viewing, equipment set-up, alarm management, advanced searches, map management, setting-up groups of devices etc. In the control center it also included a solution for professional monitoring of a large number of cameras. With SCATI WALL software the operator is able to implement scenarios and camera sequence settings, to operate PTZ cameras, to identify individuals thanks to the digital zoom, etc. Advantages These solutions help to enhance the security level of the company, reducing risks and achieving savings in the control of losses. It also enables the company to fulfil diverse requirements with regards to storage capacity and quality of the recording systems. Thanks to the use of SCATI’s platform, the company made a great leap in video surveillance management, as the operator has quick access to every equipment. It also gives the possibility to generate self-maintenance routines, that make possible a permanent monitoring, and therefore it is possible to program maintenance periods and to prevent errors thanks to automatic alerts. The combination of the different security elements needed to guarantee the comprehensive protection of the corporate buildings enables the availability of high-quality and high-resolution images, in case something happens. SCATI video surveillance solution offers high-availability, data redundancy in case one disk fails and automatic failover capabilities. It is a security platform that enables the security department of the company to have an integrated solution that can be handled by a control center – a fully scalable solution that could support the development of the security facility as the corporative building needs change. The integral management of all the security elements not only facilitates growth and easy adaptation to future needs, it also means savings in costs and therefore a profitable solution. With this system, able to manage and monitor the video surveillance recording systems, the company guarantees the protection of the different buildings where thousands of people work every day, not only employees but also clients and visitors.

Four Canadian Provinces Award New Contract to Gemalto for Secure Driver’s License Cards and Issuance Gemalto has won four contracts to provide a new, highly-secure polycarbonate driver’s license in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Atlantic Provinces sought a provider with a strong position as an innovative partner capable of producing laser-engraved polycarbonate in Canada, in order to bring their residents better identity protection through a more secure driver’s license. Gemalto will provide its Premium polycarbonate and help transition the provinces from an over-the-counter issuance process to secure central issuance. This not only enables the enhancement of the credential with the advanced, fraud and tamper-resistant security features only possible through central issuance, but also creates a more efficient process for Registry of Motor Vehicle operators by eliminating on-site printing. In addition to the credential issuance itself, Gemalto will also implement a comprehensive enrollment solution that will include photo capture, digital signature pad, and a facial biometrics recognition system compliant with the latest International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. This advanced, end-to-end solution will streamline existing processes and provide a foundation for future supplemental technologies such as an electronic ID (eID) or digital driver’s license (DDL). “The Atlantic Provinces had a strong, unified vision of what we wanted to achieve as a result of this contract and provider evaluation process,” said Paula Biggar, Minister of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy for Prince Edward Island, “We selected Gemalto because their broad experience and security capabilities can improve what we are doing today, and their innovations in technology will help us achieve what we want to do in the coming years.” “We are thrilled to be working with the Atlantic Provinces to create a new opportunity for residents to realize the benefit of the latest card security and durability with their new driver’s license,” said Steve Purdy, Vice President of Government Programs in North America at Gemalto, “Moving to central issuance will bring efficiencies and improve the customer’s experience, both during enrolment and with the day-to-day use of their driver’s license or ID card.”

Elbit Systems Awarded an Approximately $390 Million Contract to Provide an Array of Ground Electronic Intelligence Capabilities to a European Country Elbit Systems Ltd. recently announced that it was awarded a contract, in an amount of approximately $390 million, to supply an array of ground electronic intelligence capabilities to a European country. The contract, which includes various intelligence capabilities, as well as communications and command and control solutions, will be performed over a three-year period. Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems said, “Our wide and synergetic range of capabilities allows us to provide our customers with a unique and high quality solution, creating a force multiplier. As in other projects, we once again are providing the customer with a unique intelligence solution, based on cutting-edge technologies, operational know-how and experience.”

Company to begin protecting government networks against advanced cyber threats The U.S. Department of Homeland Security re-awarded the development, operations and maintenance contract, known as DOMino, to Raytheon. The IDIQ contract has a value of up to $1 billion over five years. Raytheon will be the prime contractor and systems integrator to help safeguard the .gov domain by providing design, development, operations and maintenance services in support of DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate. “Raytheon stands ready to help protect the networks of more than 100 federal government departments and agencies,” said David C. Wajsgras, President of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, “Our cutting-edge vulnerability testing, proactive threat hunting and remediation technologies will enable critical systems to be resilient in the face of ever increasing cyber-attacks.” Under the contract, Raytheon will help develop DHS’s next generation national cybersecurity protection system, delivering new and upgraded capabilities, including: Intrusion detection and prevention. Automation. Analytics. Information sharing.

Dahua deploys Synopsys solutions to build security and quality into its software development lifecycle and supply chain Dahua Technology Co., Ltd. has recently announced its selection of Synopsys to enhance the security of its Internet of Things (IoT) devices and solutions. By implementing Synopsys’ comprehensive portfolio of solutions and services, Dahua strengthens its offerings, building security and quality into their software development lifecycle (SDLC) and supply chain. “We are committed to delivering our global customer base – from residential to enterprise – the highest quality and most secure Internet-connected devices,” said Fu Liquan, Chairman of Dahua Technology, “Synopsys’ comprehensive solutions and services allow us to minimize software-related business risks by building security into the development process, which reduces the vulnerabilities that can jeopardize our products.” Dahua Technology has implemented Synopsys tools to address software security and quality issues throughout the SDLC using multiple technologies including static analysis, fuzz testing and software composition analysis. It has also joined the building security in maturity model (BSIMM) community and will undergo a BSIMM assessment, a comprehensive benchmarking process that provides an objective, data-driven view into its current software security initiative. Using the BSIMM results, Dahua will establish a baseline measurement of its software security program, which will be used to guide its efforts to continuously improve the security and quality of its products over time. “As organizations introduce IoT devices into the market, it’s essential to ensure their security and protect customers’ data and privacy,” said Andreas Kuehlmann, Senior Vice President & General Manager for the Synopsys Software Integrity Group, “Dahua’s decision to engage with Synopsys highlights their commitment to provide their customers with IoT devices that incorporate the highest level of security.”

ONVIF®, the leading global standardisation initiative for IP-based physical security products, announced that Highways England has adopted an ONVIF-centric open standards approach to video technology for the continued expansion and management of its national highway CCTV and traffic system. The use of an open, standards-based CCTV system allows the national transport organisation to support existing CCTV cameras while providing a pathway for adding new, ONVIF Profile S conformant cameras from a variety of different vendors to the system. Highways England sought a standards-based approach for its CCTV and traffic system, which oversees motorways and major roads in England, in order to maximise the value of its bespoke CCTV cameras and to help keep tax payer-funded expenditures as low as possible. In addition to enabling continued control of existing CCTV assets and an incremental migration from legacy analog to IP, a standards-based approach offers Highways England the ability to use new innovative CCTV technology as it appears in the general market. As part of the ONVIF-centric, open standards approach, Highways England will specify that any new cameras added to the CCTV system must be conformant to ONVIF Profile S, whilst recording shall conform to ONVIF Profile G. “Government entities and municipal councils are increasingly choosing to base their physical security infrastructure on open standards, like those established by ONVIF, in order to maintain a CCTV system that is vendor-neutral, flexible and future-proof,” said Jason Moss, Technical Director of Intelligent Transport for Mouchel, the consulting group assisting Highways England with its CCTV system, “This approach allows Highways England with help from its system integrator Costain to migrate to an open standards-based system incrementally as bespoke cameras reach their end of life and are replaced with ONVIF Profile S-conformant models from different vendors with use-appropriate feature sets.” “This collaboration with Highways England is a valuable one because we are given the opportunity to work closely with an end user who is solving a very real problem shared by many organisations – the need to modernize their CCTV infrastructure without replacing their entire system,” said Per Björkdahl, Chair of the ONVIF Steering Committee, “An added benefit of the collaboration is that Costain has become an ONVIF member and will bring a valuable perspective to the work of ONVIF in the future.” Highways England and two other major stakeholders are also joining forces with ONVIF to establish standard interfaces that can be used to allow users of their legacy and future CCTV systems to safely and securely access each other’s images. This will provide a truly open standards-based approach and provide flexibility in vendor selection to Highways England operations for the future.

The first police department in the U.S. is now redefining what it means to be a technology leader NICE has recently announced that the Boston Police Department (PD) will be deploying the full suite of NICE Inform solutions for quality assurance, multimedia incident reconstruction, and IP telephony and radio recording. The solutions will be deployed at three sites including its primary and backup 9-1-1 centers. The new technology will also support Boston’s EMS dispatch operations, which is co-located with the Police 9-1-1 center. The NICE solutions anchor on other technology investments that the Boston PD has made as it transitions to an IP-based, interoperable, next generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) ready, public safety environment. “Our mission is to use innovative strategies and partnerships to protect and serve the citizens of Boston,” said Shawn Romanoski, Director of Telecommunications, Boston Police Department, “The work we’re doing with NICE to upgrade our 9-1-1 center technology is one way we’re accomplishing that. It’s also critical to our preparation for next generation 9-1-1.” NICE’s certified direct integration with the Airbus DS VESTA® VoIP 9-1-1 system means that the Boston PD can reliably capture its IP-based emergency communications. It will begin accepting SMS 9-1-1 texts next year, and thanks to the new NICE technology, they’ll already be prepared to record and manage these communications as well. “As the first police department in the U.S., the Boston Police Department enjoys a rich tradition of being a pioneer in policing and public safety,” said Christopher Wooten, Executive Vice President, NICE, “With their continued work with NICE, the Boston PD is now redefining what it means to be a leader by applying technology to improve service and solve everyday problems, while building a solid foundation for the future.” Boosting efficiency and quality assurance Consistent, ongoing quality assurance (QA) is vital to every public safety answering point (PSAP). The Boston PD will use NICE Inform evaluator to ensure that its telecommunicators are following proper protocols and that the systems they rely on are properly supporting them – so they can provide the highest levels of service to Boston’s residents and visitors. Like many police departments, the Boston PD performs QA reviews on telecommunicator calls today, but until now it has been a highly manual and subjective process. With NICE Inform evaluator, manual call selection will be replaced by automated call selection; and paper-based forms will be replaced by electronic scoring where evaluation results are automatically tabulated, tracked and shared. “We’ll be far more automated from a QA perspective, and we’ll be able to complete evaluations and provide feedback much faster,” said Romanoski. Boston PD also plans to use NICE’s screen recording, synchronized with voice recordings, to better understand what happens during calls. “It’s going to be a great tool for us for QA and training,” added Romanoski, “If something goes wrong, we’ll be able to understand why and correct it.” Expediting records requests The Boston PD churns out about 6,000 records requests annually, for district attorneys, detectives, media and private citizens. NICE Inform will eliminate wasted time on duplicate requests. Records will be stored in Inform’s electronic incident folders, cross-referenced to computer aided dispatch (CAD) incident IDs or court case numbers, so there will never be a need to do the same work twice. “With our old system, whenever we received a duplicate request, we would have to go back and recreate the entire incident recording all over again,” said Romanoski, “Once we create a scenario in Inform and save it, we can easily find and retrieve the original and provide an exact duplicate.” NICE is working with its partner Business Electronics (BEI) to deploy the NICE solutions at the Boston PD.