ONVIF, an open industry forum that provides and promotes standardized interfaces for interoperability of security devices, has recently announced a knowledge partnership with Secutech, one of Asia’s longest running security shows held annually in Taipei.
ONVIF, an open industry forum that provides and promotes standardized interfaces for interoperability of security devices, has recently announced a knowledge partnership with Secutech, one of Asia’s longest running security shows held annually in Taipei.
We sat for an interview with Roberto Licari, ONVIF Ambassador and a senior security consultant with more than 30 years of industry experience, to talk about a wide range of topics, from the nascent partnership to standardization challenges in the AI age.
asmag.com: ONVIF will join Secutech as a Knowledge Partner next year. What will your message to professionals gathering at one of APAC's foremost security shows be?
Roberto Licari: Open standards matter more than ever as systems become more complex. Today's security installations and projects integrate AI analytics, cloud services, and IoT devices, and standardized interoperability is what makes all these pieces work together reliably. The role of ONVIF is ensuring that new development can happen on a foundation of tested interoperability, giving end users genuine choice while still protecting their investments.
Our presence at Secutech Taipei reflects our commitment to working with the APAC security community, helping professionals understand how multi-vendor systems can more easily work together and adapt as new technologies emerge. Manufacturers in this region can also use our globally adopted standards to more easily access other markets around the world.
asmag.com: Why did you choose Secutech
Taipei for the Knowledge Partnership?
Roberto Licari: Secutech Taipei gives us direct access to one of the world's most active security markets. The APAC region is a leading adopter of security technology, especially in smart city projects and large integrated deployments where interoperability really matters.
Taiwan and the broader region are home to many ONVIF members and represent a substantial portion of global security manufacturing. As a Knowledge Partner, we can engage directly with the manufacturers, integrators, consultants, and end users who are shaping what physical security looks like. The show's focus on interoperability and innovation matches well with our mission, which is providing standardization that enables new technology rather than limiting it.
asmag.com: Who will represent ONVIF at Secutech and what will visitors hear in your presentation?
Roberto Licari: As Knowledge Partner, we will have the opportunity to address the audience about the importance of video integrity, which is one of the most pressing questions in video security right now: how do you actually know that surveillance footage hasn't been tampered with.
This isn't a hypothetical concern anymore. As AI-generated content becomes more sophisticated, the authenticity of recorded video matters enormously — for security operations, for investigations, for anything that ends up in a legal proceeding. Our presentation will cover the ONVIF video authentication specification, which enables cameras to cryptographically sign footage at the point of capture. That signature travels with the video, so at any point downstream you can verify that what you are watching in the video is what the camera actually recorded. We'll walk through how it works, why signing at the camera level is so important, and what it means in practice for end users who need to be able to stand behind their video evidence.
Attendees will also hear more about the ONVIF organization and our portfolio of standards for different areas in security:
- Video Surveillance – Profile T and Profile G enable standardized streaming, imaging, and edge recording across cameras and video management systems from different manufacturers.
- Metadata and Events – Profile M provides standardized metadata exchange and event handling, including MQTT messaging capabilities that enable efficient communication between devices and management platforms.
- Access Control – Profile A, Profile C, and Profile D provide standardized communication for door controllers, credential readers, and integrated security management platforms.
asmag.com: Many exhibitors' R&D focus will be on AI—including, for example, AI enhanced image processing. How do you see ONVIF's role in ensuring the integrity of image and other data as AI itself poses new challenges?
Roberto Licari: The more capable AI becomes, the more important it is to have a trustworthy foundation underneath it. That means two things for ONVIF: protecting the integrity of the source data that AI systems analyze, and standardizing how AI-generated insights are structured so they remain useful across different platforms.
On the metadata side, we are standardizing how AI-generated analytics are expressed so that intelligence can move across systems without losing meaning or context. As AI produces more complex outputs, such as object classification, behavioral analysis, or scene interpretation, standardized metadata ensures those insights don't become siloed within a single vendor's ecosystem.
The broader principle is the same one that has always driven our work - enabling the industry to innovate while providing the interoperability framework that makes that innovation deployable at scale. AI is no different. The goal is a security ecosystem where AI capabilities and open standards reinforce each other rather than pulling in opposite directions.
asmag.com: Interoperability and collaboration are cornerstones of ONVIF's mission. How are you working with members and partners to ensure the future-readiness of ecosystems in video security and other fields such as automation and IoT?
Roberto Licari: ONVIF was created to support the industry and create interoperability pathways for the problems of the moment, but we also need to anticipate where the industry is heading, while all the while keeping things compatible with what's already installed. We rely on our 500 member companies, who are manufacturers, software developers and integrators, to collaborate on developing profiles that support current day pain points but support future ones as much as possible.
Our standard in development on cloud connectivity will address how devices authenticate, stream and record video, important as more and more cloud vendors enter the market with proprietary interfaces. Our Profile M enables metadata handling of basic analytics but also provides a pathway to building automation with connections into IoT systems. The new audio profile being developed within ONVIF will also extend this interoperability into the IP audio market.
Like the industry, we are moving beyond traditional security. Smart cities need video, audio, access control, building automation, and IoT sensors to work together. ONVIF is developing specifications that connect these areas for real system-level interoperability that will help drive both innovation and stability for the future.