“We provide IoT solutions” – not just video surveillance: Atul Rajput of Axis Communications

Axis Communications might be the world’s second largest manufacturer of video surveillance solutions, but it’s increasingly branching out beyond cameras, related software and hardware and even the security market.

IFSEC Global spoke to Atul Rajput, regional director for Northern Europe at Axis Communications about why he foresees a “real big potential in audio for in-store marketing and a great in-store experience”.

Our interview also covered the growing importance of sustainability, cybersecurity and smart cities, plus GDPR and privacy masking and the changing role of video surveillance.

IFSEC Global: Hi, Atul. Sustainability has long been a big part of your message and it’s been a central theme again this year…

Atul Rajput: Our vision is to innovate for a smarter, safer world. It’s about having a company purpose beyond profit. We view technology as an enabler to positively impact society and people’s lives.

Being a Swedish company Axis have always had a strong sustainability agenda. Since 2010 we’ve been releasing a sustainability report. We’re transparent in what we do.

“We have a goal to reduce carbon emissions per unit sold by 20% over five years”

We have a goal to reduce carbon emissions per unit sold by 20% over five years. We’ve moved manufacturing closer to our largest market. We’ve reduced materials in packing and reduced use of virgin materials in manufacturing.

And we want to be carbon neutral in our business trips because we all travel quite a lot. It’s a plan driven by the UN sustainable development goals. We look to carbon offset.

We’re finding that speaks to large corporate customers. Increasingly they do ask you about sustainability.

IG: The smart cities concept is also something Axis tries to align with…

Smart cities is probably one of the biggest global trends now. Obviously there are many definitions. I see it as using data and digital technologies to improve the lives of citizens. It’s more complex than that, but that’s the basic element.

Look at local councils and authorities. They’re using technology to address some of our biggest challenges: climate change, congestion, rapid demographic shifts…

Going from 54% of the world’s population living in cities today to two thirds by 2050 will create pressure – rising crime, traffic congestion…

IG: In what ways can your technology mitigate or solve those problems?

With automatic incident protection, as you identify an obstacle on the road you can mitigate bottlenecking.

“If you can cut average commute time you give people their time back – something money can’t buy”

If you can use smart analytics to cut the average commute time in the UK you give people their time back – something money can’t buy. You’re also tackling air pollution.

So we like to talk about the outcomes of using technology rather than just its features.

IG: No developer of physical security systems can ignore cybersecurity now…

There is a competency gap in terms of the security system. We as vendors need to make a commitment about cybersecurity training.

We have a camera hardening guide and published vulnerability process. They have been getting very positive feedback from customers.

And if we partner with someone, it’s not just buying the technology; you’re a partner to the lifecycle.

With GDPR, the potential cost of a breach is up to 4% of a company’s turnover. So using the right technology, the right partner, communicating transparent processes, is really good.

IG: Are your customers taking cybersecurity risks as seriously as they should?

We actually found that customers knew what they were doing. They were doing some significant penetration testing, not just video but access control too, and were really putting systems through their paces.

We have a dialogue with customers. We’ll be honest: if we need to fix something we’ll tell them and do it.

IG: How often do you find vulnerabilities?

No device can be 100% secure. If you read iOS and Windows updates, it’s vulnerability fix after vulnerability fix.

If a vulnerability is detected we post a vulnerability notice on the website, explaining how to mitigate the risk. We had one recently and sent an e-newsletter to our channel saying the fix was already done – we’re proactive in communicating.

So [we prioritise] transparency, trust, communication and having a process in place where someone can actually email you with a concern and we will respond within 48 hours.

Cybersecurity is evolving according to Moore’s Law: the threat is doubling every two years. Technology alone cannot keep pace with cyber-attacks.

What you need is a three-pronged approach: people, processes and technology. Everyone in the supply chain needs to be sharing information.

IG: Any other exciting developments on the product front?

There’s our network audio. It’s Déjà Vu for me. We launched the first, IP Axis camera 20 years ago and it was a completely analogue market.

The professional audio market for public address and background music in retail is almost completely analogue

Consumer audio devices are digital, over wired or wireless IP networks, and people stream music online. But the professional audio market for public address and background music in, say, a retail store is almost completely analogue.

So we have network speakers, horns, streaming services like Soundtrack Your Brand…

High street retailers are under significant pressure because of online giants. It’s never been more important to create a fantastic in-store experience.

The music is a reflection of your brand personality. Getting your tone right is key.

The challenge is music tastes and trends evolve rapidly. How do you keep up to date so that your music playlist in stores resonates with a customer base when you have, say, 1,000 stores, and all the stuff is analogue and controlled remotely in each store? People can fiddle with the amplifier and volume – you haven’t got consistency.

So with our network speaker, POE cable and IP address, you get rid of cabling, power supply, the amplifier, streaming box, CD player – all gone. So you can have a streaming cloud service, network-attached speakers, one network-attached microphone for public address, and that’s your system.

We have new audio management software as well. You can dynamically change the music because it’s Christmas, for example.

So we foresee a real big potential in audio for in-store marketing and a great in-store experience. We’re already starting to see significant growth.

IG: So you’re really more than a video surveillance or security company now…

We say we’re a provider of internet of things solutions. Video is obviously the core component, but now we have audio, access control, floor entry, radar…

The opportunity for internet of things is huge. The opportunity for business is when you link everything together: an IP horn that works with a camera, detecting something with an analytic, it automatically plays a pre-recorded audio file, so you have this connectivity between devices.

IG: I’ve been told that certain European countries that were historically wary of video surveillance from a privacy perspective are now changing that position in recognition of the dangerous world we live in…

True. My take on it is that as long as it’s installed responsibly and proportionate to the needs of the application, it’s ultimately there to protect us all.

The one thing you can’t really measure is what’s been deterred. There’s no doubt it will deter though.

IG: It’s more than deterrence now, though, as you’ve touched on…

Now we’re moving towards more real-time, proactive notifications.

Something like 90% of violent behaviour starts with aggressive voice

A good example is an audio aggression analytic, using a camera. I think something like 90% of violent behaviour starts with aggressive voice.

If someone was shouting, you can’t just measure aggression with decibels, yet your ears know if someone is celebrating or threatening.

So the analytic mimics that: it knows it’s not just loud; it’s aggressive. So for a lone worker, the monitoring station receives the video, sees what’s happening straightaway, and says back through their speaker: “you’re being observed”. Ultimately you want to deter something from happening, so cameras are being proactive.

IG: Anything else you wanted to spotlight?

Maybe the elephant in the room: GDPR.

Video surveillance data is classified under GDPR as personally identifiable information. But how do you automate privacy protection in video surveillance?

An incident has happened and you have to share a video. One person in the video is the suspect. How do you then not reveal the identity of other people in the video?

We have a partner called Facit Data Systems who run privacy cloaking software inside our cameras. So you can record in raw format, share the video and effectively mask out the other individuals but not the suspect.

The reason we can do it goes back to Moore’s Law. The processing power in cameras – and we make our own chips – means we can do more and more complex things.

More and more can be done on the ‘edge’ – I’m not saying huge facial recognition classification, but light touch things like letting people access a building.

Years ago you could never do licence plate recognition, facial recognition…

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