The Safe City concept allows cities to take advantage of the development of wireless data transfers from end-points to networks, all correlated by Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) systems.
Frost & Sullivan looked at the top 100 cities around the world and have identified Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London as the most likely to adopt the latest technologies in this area.
Growth in the 4G mobile network and city cloud solutions will allow increased high-speed connectivity of devices including biometrics and CCTV.
Frost & Sullivan research analyst Krzysztof Rutkowski says, “Currently cities are dealing with issues of many disparate systems which do not yield as much efficiency. New technologies must be introduced and connected to increase citizens’ safety and to provide effective intelligence and situational awareness.
“With the population of cities continuously growing, security and safety threats are the main factors influencing the level of technological procurement. There is also increasing pressure on local authorities to ensure citizens’ protection.”
However, the recession is holding many Western cities back in their adoption of new technologies. Currently an inter-linking of existing devices is the most likely route open to many councils and governments.
Systems such as Sony’s hybrid IPELA system, which provides a cost-effective retrofitting to upgrade an analogue video surveillance system, are increasingly popular as a way to bridge the gap in times of austerity.
Intelligent Buildings
It’s not just at city-wide level where these investments are taking place. UK-based Boston Networks recently reported a 400% increase in size of their new Intelligent Building division.
Since the launch of their integrated network video surveillance, access control and intruder alarm systems in January, the company has secured over GB pound 2 million in contracts.
Boston Networks’ chief executive Keith Anderson said, “Having forecast the economic downturn, we embarked on a strategic move to enhance our offering from building the network to delivering intelligent solutions that sit on the network, helping customers realise significant savings; which has resulted in a remarkable appetite from the market.”
Mr Rutkowski believes that “Safe City projects will require and drive cooperation between public and private entities,” while Boston Networks are looking to opportunities in councils public spaces and other legacy CCTV systems o install IP-based command and control solutions.
Mr Anderson says, “The UK is renowned, worldwide, for its abundance of existing CCTV systems – most of which are nearing their end of life, or becoming obsolete due to old and poor quality analogue technology.”
He continues to say that we need to invest in “intelligent technology to deliver better value and higher performing CCTV Systems”.
Frost & Sullivan’s Global Safe Cities Market Assesment goes further into the kinds of technologies being implemented in cities today and in the future.
“The competitive landscape is complex and made up of a diverse range of organisations providing both the communication backbone for first responders and a vast array of different security and information technologies.
“The mix of applications within a city and a wide range of stakeholders from government, first responders, commercial enterprises, and citizens drive a variety of needs and opportunities. As convergence continues to gather pace due to improved communication networks and trends such as M2M [machine to machine], Frost & Sullivan expects to see further partnerships, acquisitions, and new technology development.”
What does the Safe City of the future look like then?
Mr Rutkowski says “collaborations and strategic alliances will intensify as organisations recognise their relative strengths and plug weaknesses by forming strategic partnerships with providers who can help them deliver a full service solution”.
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