In the Middle East, security is largely driven by various economic engines, for example government spending and private investment. But equally important are advances in technology which are pushing players to develop new solutions to provide value to users and fulfill their objectives.
In the Middle East, security is largely driven by various economic engines, for example government spending and private investment, both set to increase in the short term in the lead-up to certain mega-events. Expo 2020 Dubai, for example, is expected to see more than 120 countries and 200 participants attending, including multilateral organizations and educational institutions. The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, meanwhile, are expected to attract 1 million visitors.
But equally important are advances in technology which are pushing players to develop new solutions to provide value to users and fulfill their objectives. One of the new technologies that are gaining importance among users is analytics, which can help users identify irregular behavior and access needed footage with more ease.
Increasing adoption of analytics
“There is a huge interest in this area at the moment as businesses realize that they can gain far more insights into their business operations and be more proactive and preventative when it comes to security issues with the help of AI and video analytics. They are looking for ways to make their systems more integrated and dynamic and the best IP enterprise products fully support this,” said Costa Boukouvalas, CEO of
Agility Grid. “We provide our customers with a range of innovative leading-edge video analytics that include facial recognition, camera tracking, abnormal behaviour detection, perimeter protection and many more.”
With longer video retention requirements, video analytics can also come in handy when retrieving needed video from piles upon piles of video in the archives. “The use of video analytics is becoming more widespread – long-term data retention will require more intelligent use of video analytic meta-data for event retrieval. This also includes integrated processing at the edge – camera manufacturers will use this to differentiate themselves and to improve the overall performance and responsiveness of systems,” said Alastair McLeod, Group CEO of
Veracity.
Further, video analytics based on AI and deep learning are also gaining popularity. “There is definitely increased interest in artificial intelligence, analytics and deep learning. Organizations see the value in leveraging these trends to analyze data more efficiently, and because of recent market innovations, we see a real impact an analytics effectiveness,” said Anand Chakravarthi, Area VP for Middle East Sales at
Pivot3.
Biometrics and access control
Another technology that’s gaining more penetration is biometrics. “In terms of biometrics, we have seen an increased demand in relation to access control applications, including iris scanners at airports, and the use of finger prints as an access control pass via iPhones,” said Gaurav Mahajan, Divisional Manager for the Middle East at
OPTEX.
Digital Barriers, for example, is working with Careem, Middle East’s leading ride-hailing app, to integrate facial technology into its technological framework to ensure passenger safety. The backend biometric identification system powered by Digital Barriers enables Careem to confirm its captains’ identity in real-time, eliminating all risks associated with fraudulent car ownership and possession. “Secured by a robust verification process that validates every captain’s identity with their assigned car, users are assured of being in safe hands at all times, with the technology providing Careem with round-the-clock captain authentication capabilities,”
Digital Barrier said in the case study.
Other access control technologies are trending as well. “For 2018, we will see mobile access control expand in the range of opportunities it presents. These include phone-based credentialing to free users from carrying cards, tokens or ID badges; and the ability for management to control their facilities from wherever they are, without needing to be tied to a control room, desk or terminal,” said Rick Caruthers, Executive VP of
Galaxy Control Systems. “Mobile access control also allows systems to be quickly and easily upgraded to add logical credentials and, because phone-based credentials are highly encrypted, they can be more secure and much more difficult to copy or counterfeit than keys, access cards and other physical credentials.”