Five trends in video surveillance to watch in 2024

Video surveillance technology has evolved over the past decade, and significant opportunities have now opened up for video users, as well as installers and integrators. Those who embrace the transformation of video – from single application security technology to a solution that leverages AI and the cloud to help users meet wider business challenges – will reap considerable benefits.

Learn about five key trends to watch in video surveillance this year, from the Hanwha Vison Europe team.

An AI-powered business game changer

The increasing combination of security cameras and AI is key to the transformation of video technology from pure surveillance functions to wider business use.

Hanwha Vision has long championed trustworthy AI for video, rightly predicting that the technology would accelerate to enable data insights and forecasting through deep real-time event and post-incident analysis.

Given the development of the technology, Pread Um (Suk Bong), Product and Marketing Director at Hanwha Vision Europe, highlights its increasing value: “Data and AI-driven predictive analytics provide valuable insights into critical business processes and help identify risks before they emerge.”

AI-based predictive analytics in video consists of three processes: video information collection, exploratory data analysis, and scenario modelling. Sectors, including smart cities, retail, manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare, are putting the technology to work to gain efficiency through cost reduction, process optimisation and service quality improvements. They are also using video to improve safety and prevent accidents.

The edge continues to gain momentum

The considerable interest in AI ‘at the edge’ will only grow in 2024.

By combining AI and edge computing in the camera itself (‘at the edge’), data is processed when and where it is generated. This helps users gain immediate insights from their video data and save time and money, as large amounts of data do not need to be transferred to separate locations for storage and processing. A single edge device takes care of everything – from video capture and storage to analysis and cloud connectivity – instead of requiring separate system infrastructure.

According to Pread Um (Suk Bong), “The biggest advantage of edge AI cameras is that video analysis takes place on-site, providing faster insights to facilitate real-time decision-making in critical scenarios.”

The transition to the cloud gathers speed

The benefits of cloud services were demonstrated during the pandemic, with business trust in the cloud increasing significantly as a result. Pread Um (Suk Bong) explains further: “Now, as AI becomes prevalent, we see businesses investing in cloud-based services to support video strategies built around AI.”

Unlike building an on-premise solution, cloud technology can be scaled according to demand, with many European firms increasing their cost-efficiency through cloud services that do not require a large initial investment and can be managed centrally and scaled up or down with ease.

What’s more, a cloud-based video surveillance system, or VSaaS (Video Surveillance as a Service), can be easily incorporated into an existing system and integrated with other security systems such as access control, fire detection and building management, as well as AI and data analytics solutions.

Cybersecurity will dominate the business agenda 

The convergence of new technologies, such as the cloud and AI, has advanced the capabilities of video cameras and ensured their widespread adoption across sectors of all types. At the same time, cybersecurity threats have increased. In response, 2024 is expected to see the introduction of the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and Network and Information Security Directive 2nd Edition (NIS2) across the EU.

CRA is a regulation that sets minimum cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements. Under the regulation, products, including video cameras, must be designed and developed with security in mind, protected against known vulnerabilities and updated regularly with security patches.

NIS2, meanwhile, is a directive adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in December 2020. EU member states are expected to comply with NIS2 by October 2024 to meet specific measures aimed at improving the cybersecurity of network and information systems across the EU.

Pread Um (Suk Bong) explains: “As the CRA and NIS2 come online, users, installers and integrators must ensure the manufacturers they work with are compliant. Hanwha Vision has already announced its preparedness for the upcoming legislation.”

Sustainability: a condition of doing business

In 2024, European businesses will be required to report more widely about their sustainability achievements as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) rolls out across the EU in a phased approach. It is anticipated that almost 50,000 firms will be impacted by the CSRD, making up some three-quarters of businesses in the European Economic Area.

For its part, the video surveillance industry must address the growing importance of sustainable development, such as low-impact manufacturing that reduces waste and uses renewable forms of energy.

Beyond manufacturing, there is the ongoing impact of video cameras, for example, across energy usage. According to Pread Um (Suk Bong). “Energy prices continue to present a challenge for organisations around Europe, so Hanwha Vision is working on new technologies that reduce the energy consumption associated with camera operation and data analysis.”

These include low-light camera technology that saves energy while still delivering clear images and the power savings resulting from AI ‘at the edge’, which reduces bandwidth and storage needs as less data must be transmitted back to a server for analysis.

Finally, Hanwha Vision’s SolidEdge cameras lower energy usage by employing an edge-based VMS, removing the need for separate servers to store video and enable event management.

Learn more about Hanwha Vision here.