Category: National

The award of ‘Excellence in Manufacturing Telecom Equipment’s’ was conferred on Matrix at the virtual National Telecom Make in India Awards & Summit ceremony held on 21st July 2020 from New Delhi, organized by TEMA and CMAI Association of India.The Award has been instituted to promote manufacturing of world-class telecom products in India.   On winning this prestigious award, Ganesh Jivani, Chief Executive of Matrix said, “We are happy to win this award for Excellence in Manufacturing Telecom Equipment. We thank TEMA and CMAI for recognizing Matrix for our technologies, products and solutions. Matrix offers cutting-edge telecom and physical security solutions in more than 50 countries including many first-world technologically advanced nations. With 250+ R&D engineers, world-class processes and infrastructure, Matrix is committed to designing and manufacturing cutting-edge solutions. This award is a validation of Matrix’s innovation, design and manufacturing capabilities and will go a long way in motivating us towards building world-class technology solutions.”  

Fortinet recently announced the findings of its 2020 State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report. The survey finds that operational technology (OT) leaders are highly respected in their organizations and that their teams are vital to their companies’ bottom lines. Cybersecurity continues to be an integral part of their daily work and that work continues to be a struggle. The survey of OT leaders conducted by Fortinet indicates that only 8% of respondents had seen no intrusions over the past 12 months. The finding also shows a significant percent age of organizations have not extended some elements of basic security hygiene into their OT environments. A deeper look into the data highlights: OT infrastructures still lack core cybersecurity protection: The majority of responding organizations reported that they had been largely unsuccessful at preventing cyber criminals from exploiting their systems. Among those surveyed, it was also found that: 90% have experienced at least one intrusion in the past year. 72% have experienced three or more intrusions in the past year. 26% have experienced six or more intrusions in the past year. The impact of these exploitations was also noted by respondents, with more than half 51% documenting lost productivity, 37% seeing operational outages impacting revenue, and 39% having their physical safety put at risk – a significant concern considering the inherent dangers of industrial facilities. OT leaders also noted the commonality of specific attack methods, including malware (60%), phishing (43%,) hackers (39%), ransomware (37%), denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks (27%), and insider breaches (18%). OT leaders have broad responsibilities that often include cybersecurity: OT leaders typically report to higher-ranking individuals within the organization such as a VP, COO, or the CEO. The overwhelming majority (80%) are also regularly involved in making cybersecurity decisions, with half having the final say in those decisions. 64% of OT leaders have also taken on the responsibility of embedding security within the operations process, and 71% are regularly involved in IT cybersecurity strategy. Because cybersecurity is a top priority for these individuals, trends show that matters related to OT security will soon become the responsibility of the CISO, if they are not already. The inevitability of this shift is highlighted by the fact that most 61% respondents stated that they expect their CISO to take on all OT security responsibilities in the coming year. This is likely due to the increased risk of connected OT systems and their impact on business continuity. OT leaders still struggle with security measurements and analysis: The survey found that between 36% and 57% of organizations lack consistency when it comes to measuring items on a list of standard metrics. Among the most commonly tracked and reported areas are vulnerabilities (64%), intrusions (57%) and cost reduction resulting from cybersecurity efforts (58%). Conversely, less than half of organizations (43%) are known to report on tangible risk management outcomes, and 39% to 50% do not routinely share basic cybersecurity data with senior executive leadership. Respondents also cited security analysis, monitoring, and assessment tools as among the most essential features in security solutions, with the majority 58% ranking these specific attributes in the top 3. Despite the prioritization of these features, however, 53% reported that security solutions hinder operational flexibility and half reported that they create more complexity. Rajesh Maurya Regional Vice President, India & SAARC at Fortinet, “OT leaders find it challenging to deploy the right security tools and keep up with increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that await their newly-connected systems. As OT systems lose their air gaps and become integrated with IT systems, OT leaders will need to reinforce security awareness by Implementing best practices, bolster their systems with centralized visibility and take a proactive approach to security to turn the tables on cybercriminals and help protect their critical OT infrastructures”.  

Drones are being used in diverse industries including defense, entertainment, agriculture With the increasing use of autonomous machinery in our day-to-day lives, the influence of drone technology across verticals is extraordinary. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are turning out to be game changers in multiple sectors with special emphasis on defense, entertainment, agriculture, and ecommerce sectors. Their applications are known for real-time monitoring, wireless coverage provision, remote sensing, delivery of goods, photography, precision in agriculture and surveillance. The most recent examples are the use of drones in managing on ground situation for Covid-19 and spraying of pesticides to rid large tracts of agricultural lands of locust infestation. However, one of an interesting application involving drones or UAVs is to prevent birds from causing damage to assets present in the aerial territory. To avoid the risk of collision with birds, deterrence methods have concentrated on various methods to scare birds from active airspace. DEP has made its contribution to solving the problem. DEP’s product engineering team set out to develop an application specific unmanned aerial system (UAS). DEP’s approach consisted of designing the airframe, deterrence method, radio control & autopilot, camera, power, ground control, drive train, and pre-flight systems. For the airframe, Garuda incorporates the conventional twin propeller airplane layout rather than flying wing type, which was initially proposed. DEP also provides a comprehensive list of pre-flight system checks and failure management tips. Karthik Shankaran, Chief Innovation Officer, Detroit Engineered Products said, “For the aviation industry, aerial territory holds equal importance as land territory and so does its protection. When dealing with million-dollar assets, the protection of these assets is of utmost importance. Birds often fly into the line of assets, putting their lives at risk as well as causing damage to the assets. Of current relevance is the use of drones in agriculture. The infestation of locusts in India has necessitated the use of drones to spray chemicals in order to protect crops.” “The technology of UAVs may not be immensely used at this point; however, its importance cannot be undermined to protect the aerial as well as land territory. Since we have technologies to protect and benefit the lives, manufacturers and product designers should aim to build on existing technologies. Detroit Engineered Products (DEP), an engineering solutions and product development company, has been working to design drones that are operative even for the most complex situations with better productivity, cost efficiency and flexibility,” Sankaran added. Detroit Engineered Products (DEP) is an engineering solutions and product development company. Since its inception in 1998 in Troy, Michigan, USA. DEP is now a global company with presence in USA, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, China, Korea, Japan and India. At the soul of DEP is a passion to transform the product development process associated with vehicle and powertrain systems. Knowledge together with partnerships across various global automotive OEMs has led to MeshWorks, DEP’s proprietary CAE platform, which rapidly reduces the development time of products across industries. Products like IC sensor and processes like 3G+ optimization, MDO etc., coupled with proactive development and enhancements into electric and alternative energy fields assisted DEP’s robustness in the electric vehicle arena leading e-Powertrain technology.  

AVerMedia®, an NVIDIA® Elite Partner, recently launched new compact AVerAI NX211B and NX213B AI edge computing systems designed to leverage the powerful capabilities of the NVIDIA Jetson Xavier™ NX for AIat-the-edge applications. The products are designed to address the physical space concern for the industries. These products are developed to work even in extreme temperatures ranging from 0°C to 70°C. They are well suited to be implemented and used across smart cities, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, robotics, transportation, and other verticals. The AVerAI NX211B and AVerAI NX213B work concurrently with smart cameras to gain situational awareness and respond to real-time safety and security threats. They support various video input sources from IP camera, USB camera, MIPI camera, and capture cards supporting HDMI/ VGA/ 3G-SDI/Composite video sources. AVerAI products are designed for industrial applications in the environment dealing with extreme temperatures between 0°C to 70°C and in places where the high physical space is a concern. The best cost-effective choice for AIoT edge computing is in intelligent video analytics applications like Healthcare, Smart Cities, Robotics, Manufacturing, Transportation, etc. The AVerAI NX211B is an active-cooled system suitable for industrial environments in confined spaces where temperatures range from 0°C to 70°C. AVerAI NX211B provides the access to a list of rich I/O functions, which includes 2×2 Lane MIPI CSI-2, 1×4 Lane MIPI CSI-2 MIPI camera input (optional item), 1x 4Kp60 HDMI output, 2x USB 3.0, 1x GbE RJ-45, 20-pins GPIO expansion, 1x Micro SD card slot, and 1x Micro-B USB 2.0 for recovery. It also features a single-mould PCB terminal block module for the easy power connection. It comes with the compact dimensions of 76.6mm(L)x91.4mm(W)x70mm(H) and design for reliable field installation. Additionally, it comes with a single-mould PCB terminal block module for the easy power connection and can simultaneously decode and analyze 8-channel 1080p 60 IP camera videos. The AVerAI NX213B is a passive-cooled system with 8-channel PoE (PSE) ports for IP cameras and a SATA port for storage, ideal as AI NVR in smart cities and retail applications. It is specially crafted as an application ready platform for multiple applications to improve the performance, flexibility, and time to market. With NX213B, software developers not only can deploy their deep learning software on this system but can also market their software in a Box PC as a complete solution. This helps to simplify the efforts and processes of the system integration in launching their AI solution into the market faster. Moreover, it comes with the WaveFin technology which helps operate in the environment up to 65°C without airflow. The Jetson Xavier NX module with cloud-native support delivers up to 21 TOPS of accelerated computing with 384 CUDA® cores and 48 Tensor Cores in a credit-card sized form factor. It can run modern neural networks in parallel and process data from multiple high-resolution sensors – a requirement for full AI systems. As an NVIDIA Elite partner, AVerMedia® develops ruggedized active/ passive-cooled thermal designs and technology for the full NVIDIA Jetson lineup, including the Jetson Nano, Jetson Xavier, and Jetson Xavier NX modules. Using AVerMedia’s accessory-extended video capture card products on the Jetson platform provides the ability to receive HDMI, VGA, SDI, and composite video inputs, as well as dual 4Kp30 HDMI video inputs for collecting real-time video data from different application scenarios for analysis.  

Delta, a leading provider of video wall solutions, successfully set up a large-scale video wall for Kochi smart city in its integrated command control & communication centre. Kochi smart city has India’s first integrated command and control communication center (IC4) which is completely deployed on cloud. The IC4 will be the brain for city operation, exception handling, and disaster management. It will also provide insights by processing complex datasets at an aggregated level to derive intelligence for improved planning and policy making. Kochi city in Kerala, India is among the first 20 cities selected under Government of India’s smart cities mission. The smart cities mission (SCM) aims to rejuvenate the prevailing urban ecosystem through area based development (ABD) strategies. The objective of the SCM is to promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of ‘smart’ solutions. Delta equipped IC4 with two sets of video wall – 391sqft Delta video wall made up of 27 screens of 70” each in 9×3 configuration, and 116sqft video wall made up of 8 screens of 70” each in 4×2 configuration. A large video wall installed at the centre will help response to situations, both proactive and reactive that will truly make the city operations ‘SMART.’ Delta’s video walls with Windows based control system at the centre will be for monitoring and surveillance. CCTV cameras installed in public places across the city can be accessed from video walls. The emergency services like police, fire stations, other rescue services and LED street-lights have been integrated with IC4. In the long-run other government services can also be integrated. “Being a 24×7 facility, part of which will be utilized for Covid-19 war room, was very critical to us and team Delta exceeded our expectations. Delta engineers were able to quickly install the setup and helped us complete the project on schedule despite the state lockdown imposed due to the pandemic. The end-result turned out even better than what we had anticipated,” commented a CSML official. Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Delta Displays support team managed to install and complete the setup within tight deadlines. IC4 will be of immediate help to affected areas in case of floods or disease outbreaks. This will become the heart of Kochi smart city for monitoring, maintaining and addressing the needs of millions of people with quality services and facilities. The IC4 and adjoining war room, both consist of Delta’s Superior video wall solutions. This is one of the best made smart city command centers in India in terms of scale, infrastructure, technology and functional aspects. Delta’s LED video wall at the centre will support in monitoring operational parameters, anomalies, alerts/ events and help in a fast response by decision-making operators. Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala inaugurated integrated command and control communication centre (IC4) under Cochin Smart Mission Limited’s (CSML) via video conferencing on June 8, 2020.  

nCipher Security, an Entrust Datacard company, and a leading world player in hardware security modules (HSMs), has partnered with HashiCorp, a leader in multi-cloud infrastructure automation. The integration of nCipher nShield® HSMs with HashiCorp Vault means customers can deploy a high-assurance security solution for centralized secrets management that helps meet regulatory compliance mandates.   HashiCorp Vault manages and protects sensitive data by securing, storing and tightly controlling access to tokens, passwords, certificates, and encryption keys for protecting secrets and other sensitive data. The solution addresses secret sprawl and the challenge of having varying lifecycle and protection policies created by multiple applications offering unique secure repositories to store access credentials. The security foundation of HashiCorp Vault is the encryption and decryption of secret assets. nShield HSMs protect the master key securing HashiCorp Vault, providing a robust root of trust. The use of HSMs is a best practice for high-assurance encryption and key management, and help organizations in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government to comply with regulatory requirements. “Secure key management is essential to protect data and applications, and when centralizing this function, the security of those keys is even more important,” said Juan Asenjo, Director of Product, Solutions, and Partner Marketing at nCipher Security, “nCipher HSMs provide HashiCorp Vault with a robust root of trust enabling customers to deploy seamlessly and with confidence. We are pleased to join forces with HashiCorp and provide a strong solution for our joint customers.” “We are pleased to welcome nCipher Security to the HashiCorp partner program,” said Asvin Ramesh, Director, Technology Alliances at HashiCorp, “The integration allows organizations to manage their secrets across diverse environments in a single application, with best in class security. With DevOps now mainstream in enterprise environments, we are seeing increased usage of Vault not only for secrets management but also other use cases like data encryption and identity-based access.” nCiphernShield HSMs are among the highest-performing, most secure and easy-to-integrate HSM solutions available, facilitating regulatory compliance and delivering the highest levels of data and application security for enterprise, financial and government organizations. The unique security world key management architecture provides strong, granular controls over access and usage of keys. Benefits of using nShield HSMs with HashiCorp Vault: Mitigate risks created by secret asset aggregation and enable compliance for regulated markets. Deliver greater control of data on-premises, in the cloud, and hybrid environments. Establish an auditable method for enforcing security policies. Provide a FIPS 140-2 level 3 and common criteria EAL4+ root of trust.  

Addressing the members of Private Security Industry (PSI) on 19 June 2020, through video conferencing organised by the Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI), Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Police Modernisation (PM) touched upon the COVID pandemic which has created havoc in the nation, and appreciated the tremendous role played by PSI. It was due to the efforts of CAPSI and persuasion at the highest level in the MHA that enabled the Government to declare PSI as an essential service. The fact that there has been no incident of arson and violence during lockdowns speaks volumes of the laudable work done by the security guards, security supervisors and the management. The Additional Secretary placed on record his deep appreciation for the stalwarts of the industry, termed them as the ‘heroes’ of the time, and urged all to recognise their contributions in true sense. Mr. Bharadwaj began his discourse by paying homage to the martyrs of the Indian Army who sacrificed their lives on the northern borders in a tussle with China. All participants joined him to observe a 2 minutes silence praying for their rest in peace. He later asked the participants to explore how they can help the families of these martyred soldiers. The industry comprises mostly ex-servicemen and veterans; he requested CAPSI State Chapters from the states of the martyred soldiers to connect with their families and exert to help them get suitable employments. Earlier, CAPSI took the issue of barring the services of security professionals during lockdown aggressively up and raised it to the pertinent higher authorities of the government of India. The delegates of CAPSI headed by the Chairman, CAPSI, Kunwar Vikram Singh kept in pressing touch with Mr. Bhardwaj himself, and G Kishen Reddy, the Minister of State for Home Affairs Government of India. The dedicated efforts of CAPSI fructified and on 14 April 2020 the government notified PSI as the essential service and allowed them to operate in lockdowns. “The CAPSI decision to approach MHA to bring private security services under essential services has saved 23000 PSAs and 9 million security guards from major livelihood disaster. Imagine 9 million SGs going back to their native places leaving everyone business establishment and RWAs unprotected. MHA decision will be remembered as a life saving landmark decision for the PSI. Not a single case of theft, industrial damage or trespassing reported during lockdown. Salute to all security guards and management of PSAs those worked all times with total professional commitment. After all ‘the chowkidar’ proved its worth as guardsman to the nation,” said Kunwar Vikram Singh. Understanding the problems being faced by the PSAs in renewing their licenses, Mr. Bharadwaj stated that the Government has extended the date for renewal till the end of August. Talking of the situation post pandemic, he stated that the industry should think in terms of playing an international role. The valuable human resource available if trained properly can help the PSI play a significant role in the global arena. The Additional Secretary concluded his talk by assuring the participants that the reframing of the model rules will be a great step towards resolving many current problems being faced by the industry.  

Skybox® Security recently announced that Shantanu Srivastava has joined the company as the Vice President of sales for the Asia-Pacific Japan (APJ) region. Srivastava brings to the company more than 25 years’ experience in enterprise software sales, with more than 15 years in leadership sales roles in Singapore and Hong Kong. He joins Skybox from BlackBerry where he led and rebuilt sales activity for the company in APJ by establishing new operations, a talented team, new channels and key accounts infrastructure. We are extremely pleased to have Shantanu join our team to lead our Asia-Pacific Japan theatre,” said Skybox EVP Worldwide Sales and Field Operations Rob Rosiello, “As well as having a consistent record delivering growth, Shantanu is a proven leader with deep domain expertise. We were impressed by his ability to provide value through a client-centered solutions approach, his work with strategic channel and integration partners and, especially, delivering client satisfaction. We happily welcome his appointment. Responsible for APJ sales and field operations, Srivastava will enable Skybox to continue with its strong record of growth in the region and help lead the strategic theatre into its next stage for the company.  

Axis Communications announced the expansion of its footprint in Kolkata and the eastern India region and shared the successful implementation details of their association with Kolkata Police for surveillance and traffic management on the streets of Kolkata. The event also showcased their integrated smart solutions in IP audio, radar technology, network cameras, and thermal cameras. Centered around their philosophy of ‘creating a smarter & safer tomorrow,’ the event brought to fore Axis’ recent success stories and their key takeaways from prestigious surveillance implementations across the country, including the implementation of surveillance systems in Vivekananda Stadium, Salt lake during FIFA U-17 World Cup, in 2017. Kolkata is the gateway to the eastern part of India. With a mixed floating population and its residents, Policing is a tough job. In order to assist the law enforcement better, Kolkata Police, deployed Axis Cameras with two primary objectives: Traffic monitoring. Maintaining general surveillance on the streets of Kolkata to make it a safe city for the residents. The Government of West Bengal has been proactive in adopting a one-of-its-kind smart surveillance implementation. As Kolkata Police has always been the forerunner of the agenda of making Kolkata the safest city for the residents, the partnership with Axis Communications has successfully helped them in setting up high-resolution cameras across the city. Additionally, Axis ZipStream Technology has helped them optimize bandwidth and overall storage requirements of the mass video produced throughout the day, 24*7. This, in return, will help them track, monitor, and analyze the video feed for detecting criminal activities, traffic violations, and road conditions real time. Highlighting the efforts that led to the successful association with Kolkata Police, Sudhindra Holla, Director – India & SAARC, Axis Communications said, “We are proud to be a partner of choice for the Kolkata Police city-wide project. This is an example of a city authority participation towards building a safer and secured smart city. We have 800+ camera installations across the city to track, monitor and analyze the video feed for detecting criminal activities, traffic violations and road conditions. With our strong portfolio of product line-up, we aim to support the authorities to deliver high surveillance and build a model smart city.” “Axis carries a rich lineage of more than 35+ years and during the time, we understand the pulse of the India market. Supporting PM Narendra Modi’s much envisioned smart city programmes, we believe that high end surveillance solutions are the need of the hour,” he added. Speaking on the Vivekananda Stadium implementation, Sudhindra emphasized, “This project was challenging as it demanded a state-of-the-art security system that matches the International standards of FIFA. With our global heritage of meeting the needs of the customers’ requirements with high definition products and solutions, we extended our hand towards securing the entire stadium with our high-end technologies. For example, the Light-finder technology which makes dark areas visible and captures all minute details even in darkness and forensic wide dynamic range reveals details in difficult lighting by applying multiple exposure levels, contrast enhancement, and advanced algorithms that lower noise and increase the image signal. The Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Kriranga, is India’s second largest stadium with a seating capacity of 85,000 people. Our motive was to ensure that the work was seamless and met the requirements of the organizing committee.”  

Mistral Solutions, a leading technology design and system engineering company, announces the introduction of an ‘automated thermal screening system,’ a body temperature detection and alert system for large establishments and public places to be placed at the entry and exit points The COVID-19 pandemic has brought in unprecedented situations and is expected to make a long-term impact across the globe. As governments mandate screening of people at the entry and exit of establishments to track the body temperature, enforcement agencies are confronted with this massive challenge. Moreover, the traditional methods of screening are mostly man-managed, resulting in delays, congestion, and have their own limitations such as close contact with people, high risk of transmitting infection, high cost, low efficiency, etc. Mistral’s automated thermal screening (ATS) system is an artificial intelligence enabled mass people screening solution for establishments where a high footfall is expected, viz., malls, railway stations, bus stations, airports, public/ private organisations, factories etc. Mistral’s ATS system offers various benefits over traditional thermal traditional systems. The automated system effectively reduces manpower requirement and close contact between people. The ATS system offers faster people detection and temperature measurement and generates real-time, accurate data for active monitoring and quick decision making. Automated thermal screening system can perform simultaneous temperature screening of multiple people with an accuracy of ±0.5°C. The system consists of thermographic cameras, multi-channel NVR, PoE switch and an optional black body calibrator for higher accuracy. “Mistral has always been a trustworthy partner offering cutting-edge solutions for government, defence and homeland security applications for the past 22 years. The ATS solution from Mistral is aimed at providing organizations an affordable solution to fight the extraordinary situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe that the ATS system will aid large establishments and government bodies in controlling the spread of Covid-19 by effectively monitoring people entering their premises,” said Anees Ahmed, President, Mistral Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Features of ATS system Automated temperature screening with an accuracy of ±0.5°C.  Continuous monitoring with very low error status. Detection of up to 30 people at a time. Temperature measurement range of 86-113°F. AI-enabled mass detection. Detection and screening from 0.8 to 9 meters. Real-time alarms. Lower manpower usage. Generates real-time data and analytics. Centralised data management. Optional black body calibrator for higher accuracy.