Category: International

Hikvision, the world’s leading supplier of innovative video surveillance products and solutions, has been ranked as the world’s largest provider of branded SAN, NAS and external DAS storage used in video surveillance in 2016, with the largest estimated market share of 22.1%, according to the latest reports from IHS Markit. “This is the first time that Hikvision has been ranked as the number-one provider in the enterprise storage business. It speaks about the success we have had in the video surveillance market, especially in large-scale projects with citywide storage demands,” said Keen Yao, VP at Hikvision International Business Centre, “As our customers continue to see the great value of employing surveillance data to boost end users’ businesses, enterprise-level data storage is becoming an increasingly important part of a solutions approach to data-centred needs.” Yao attributes Hikvision’s growth in storage capacity to customer’s increased demand for valued data. For instance, in retail business video is used to observe customer patterns and preferences, as well as employee performance to make better business decisions and improve management. City authorities use video to analyse traffic, reduce congestion, and increase commerce. In addition, with time, data retention times are also increasing; for example, due to regulatory requirements, many companies and authorities are keeping surveillance data much longer, and that is putting even more demand on storage infrastructures. With years of technological innovations, Hikvision has established an extensive, well-developed line of enterprise storage products combining high data density, modularized design, video management, data safety, and device management features. Together, these characteristics create the most high-performance, scalable and affordable storage solutions available to date, providing customers with autonomous control, stability and efficiency.  

The latest trends in artificial intelligence and robotics in policing societies, along with major projects fuelling growth in the Middle East commercial security landscape, were among many talking points, as Intersec concluded its 20th edition in Dubai on 23 January. The world’s leading trade fair for security, safety, and fire protection featured 1,337 exhibitors from 59 countries, while 29,532 visitors from 129 countries stopped by the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Sharing centre-stage were dozens of product launches, while live demonstrations of fire protection equipment and drones used across a wide range of applications kept thousands of buyers and industry professionals entertained and informed. The Dubai Police is one of Intersec’s long-standing Government Partners, along with the Dubai Civil Defence, Dubai Police Academy, the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA), and for the first time in 2018, the Dubai Municipality. This year from its exhibition stand, the Dubai Police had a strong focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and smarter technologies to keep residents, visitors, and communities safe.  It also showcased Robocop prototypes and newsmart services that are already in place in its fully automated smart police station, which recently opened in September 2017. Brig. Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, Dubai Police’s Director General of Artificial Intelligence, gave an overview of the Government body’s vision toward using AI and robots in policing and protection. “We plan to use AI to help us not only reduce crimes, but increase our ability to predict potential crimes before they happen, along with reducing traffic accidents.  We’ve introduced a crime prediction system as well as accident prediction system that can study the behaviours of drivers,” he said, “There have been rumours that due to AI and robotics at Dubai Police, there will be less police officers but this is not true. We’re going to create more advanced positions, where they can provide a better service to keep our residents and visitors happy and safe.” Organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East, Intersec spans seven show sections of commercial security, fire & rescue, safety & health, homeland security & policing, information & cyber security, smart home & building automation, and physical & perimeter security. With 483 exhibitors in 2018, Commercial Security represents the largest show section, and features two-thirds of the world’s top 50 providers of video surveillance, access control, intrusion detection, analytics, and video management software. Intersec has proved over the years to be a fruitful business platform for global leaders and industry start-ups alike. Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Middle East said, “Intersec 2018 has further cemented its position as the world’s premier trade platform of its kind for the security, safety, and fire protection industries. “We intend to continue to build on our success and look forward to far greater developments and achievements in the future while working together with the authorities and the active support of the government.” Enterprise Grade Security Solutions The Matrix access control and time-attendance domain showcased its newly launched face recognition technology for authentication through mobile. This technology enables contactless authentication with precise and accurate authentication. Matrix also displayed its high-end cloud based time-attendance and access control solution. With smart-phones set to be next generation technology, Matrix showcased its mobile based access control solution, whereby a user can either scan the QR Code or just twist his/ her phone for authentication. Other products showcased were some extraordinary biometric door controllers useful for applications in time-attendance, access control, visitor management, cafeteria management and more. Matrix video surveillance wing exhibited its video management solution SATATYA SAMAS which approaches threats in a logical, sequential manner through its unique features like CREAM (Cognitive Responsive Engine with Automated Monitoring). CREAM terminates false alerts by going through multi-stage verification, in which one analytic triggers another and the event is analyzed by a string of analytics. Being aware of the need of automation in medium, large and multi-location enterprises, they demonstrated how SATATYA SAMAS can seamlessly automate the parallel working of various systems integrated in an organization. Alongside, they presented the recently launched new range of network video recorders that are equipped with characteristics like Cascading, Camera-wise Recording Retention, Database Level Integration and plenty of other distinct features. The new range of IP cameras that are equipped with SONY STARVIS series sensors with EXMOR technology. This gives the cameras an edge over others in terms of exceptional low light performance, consistent image in varying light conditions (True WDR), better bandwidth optimization, etc. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Cutting-edge Technologies and Products Uniview released the following latest products and technologies at Intersec 2018. 5MP StarView series 5MP StarView series is a new generation of the series which redefined Starlight technology with outstanding image at super low illumination during the night for both static and moving scene. Uniview used 1/2.7” backside illumination technology sensor, applied F1.2 lens to raise the light physically. It is easy to set and more cost effective for users. Hybrid NVR Hybrid NVR is not only a single product, but also a five in one solution which supports IP/ CVBS/ AHD/ TVI/ CVI. It supports analog camera with up to 5MP resolution and IP camera up to 4MP resolution. Hybrid NVR indicates that Uniview is expanding to more completed solutions, and is able to help customers acquire larger market. VMS – Unicorn UNV VMS Unicorn is one of the most powerful VMS servers which can support up to 1000 channels per server and 14 HDMI outputs with decode cards for video wall. With hot standby server, central backup and RAID, Unicorn guaranteed the video surveillance system’s reliability. With such abundant and powerful functions, it would be very reliable for medium to large scale solutions such as building, campus, industry park and so on. Pioneered cloud upgrade & 0 configuration All UNV NVRs are featured with UNV’s pioneered cloud upgrade. With just one click on NVR or app, users can keep system updated with latest firmware. It’s extremely easy to maintain. With newly designed UI, the latest EZView version showed at Intersec can support searching devices in LAN…

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 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.