Intelligent solutions are proving technology is indispensable for people safety in city life. In such places as Copenhagen, Stockholm and Denver, integrated systems raise the quality of living through reduced crime and safer transportation. In Poland, Katowice has one of the most advanced and flexible systems. In this capital city, Milestone’s video management platform centralizes monitoring, increasing security and coordinating services.
Challenge: Help to scale out operations, add AI
The first video cameras were installed in Katowice in 2001, when the city invested in 16 analog devices installed in the city center, sending the images to the Municipal Police Headquarters. This was the first step to building a video monitoring system to guard against dangerous events. The vision grew for new investments as a smart city, which became the KISMiA project – Katowice Intelligent Monitoring and Analysis System. By 2021, around 300 cameras spread across 160+ km2 of the city. Katowice chose an open design video platform to be able to expand the network over time.
“Adding more cameras made us think how to more effectively operate using artificial intelligence. The monitoring center established in 2017 covered locations in the city center and other districts, as well as 16 family activity zones. Additionally, 10 road traffic supervision points were launched. The system can be expanded to more than 1,000 cameras”
Miroslaw Cygan
Head of the Crisis Management Dept. of the
City Hall, KISMiA Project Coordinator
When the KISMiA project was born, a fiber optic network was created connecting all city centers and many points of the city. The goals were to improve the effectiveness of the monitoring operators and city services with better coordination. The integrated system gave clearer orientation on incidents and more efficient cooperation of security support. The system was fully implemented in 2017, and now can expand monitoring in new areas, such as Park-andRide transfer centers.
Solution: A 21st Century Data Center
Implementing this system was possible thanks to several components. IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center software was used as an operational support module, and IBM Intelligent Video Analytics as a recorded image analysis module. The video material is handled with the Milestone XProtect Corporate video management platform to register, store, share video material and smoothly manage the cameras.
“KISMiA is unique in the country, in that the system was created with the future in mind. The construction of the fiber optic network with flexible monitoring points and a unified data center was aiming for the top. Katowice has a project engineer who is technologically certified and supported by Milestone Systems. This makes it easier to develop a city strategy for years to come”
Marcin Palka
Dept of IT and Crisis Management
The system is defined for the types of threat situations, and immediately alerts an operator. This cuts short the time it takes to respond for services or voice communications at the scene. This includes among other things:
- Person lying down.
- Left object.
- Animals in family activity zones (playgrounds, parks, barbecue areas etc).
- Crowds gathering in public spaces (critical during pandemics).
- Vehicle collisions.
- Parking in prohibited places.
- Driving against the traffic directional flow.
- Damage caused by wind or flooding.
Result: Controlling danger in parks or on roads
Threatening situations are detected, and operators can determine how to address an incident. An undesirable object or movement may appear in a park at dusk, for example. If it is a wild boar, the reaction will be different than dealing with people who are there after dark. Such places are also equipped with loudspeakers, which are useful if vandals invade the area. The operator’s voice deters them, and often more intervention is not necessary.
“Katowice is a city of innovative solutions and implementation of new technologies; we are becoming more and more smart city in many areas. We were the first in Poland to create this intelligent video monitoring system on this scale. Undoubtedly, the modern solutions of Milestone XProtect Corporate contribute to increasing the level of security in Katowice”
Marcin Krupa
Mayor of Katowice
The system also supports traffic control in the city. LPR (License Plate Recognition) gateways show the flow of traffic and help detect such things as runaway or stolen vehicles. The operator can also tell relevant services which direction a wayward car is going.
