IFSEC Insider is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.
James Moore is the Managing Editor of IFSEC Insider, the leading online publication for security and fire news in the industry.James writes, commissions, edits and produces content for IFSEC Insider, including articles, breaking news stories and exclusive industry reports. He liaises and speaks with leading industry figures, vendors and associations to ensure security and fire professionals remain abreast of all the latest developments in the sector.
We speak to ONVIF to find out how the organisation has responded to the past 12 months, what it’s got planned for the future of interoperability standards in security, and what the team is showing off at IFSEC Connect in June.
IFSEC Global: How has your business responded to the past 12 months?
ONVIF: Despite the difficult macroeconomic situation over the last year, ONVIF membership has increased slightly, so members still see the importance of ONVIF. ONVIF was fortunate to make some advances with several initiatives. One such initiative was the introduction of the GitHub open source development platform, which has streamlined specification development processes and allowed developers from other companies and industries to join ONVIF members in providing input to the development of ONVIF specifications. ONVIF also plans to release at the end of June two new profiles: Profile M, covering metadata and events for analytics applications, and Profile D for access control peripherals. These additions will help provide greater feature interoperability and support new market demands.
What have been the biggest challenges?
One of the most obvious challenges, outside of global economic shifts and pandemic outlook, was switching to virtual events. The security industry relies heavily on trade shows and other events to discover new technologies and network with industry colleagues, and ONVIF is no exception. One-on-one time has been hard to come by, but we anticipate being able to collaborate with members and the industry at large again in person. Additionally, as the industry continues to see rapid technological developments in AI, IoT and overall connectivity, ONVIF will continue to be tasked with meeting the needs of this industry. With the continued adoption and growth of different analytics applications, it’s important we encourage and enable these advancements.
How do you feel the industry has reacted overall to the pandemic?
I think the industry has responded to the pandemic by widening its scope to meet demands for solutions that satisfy pandemic safety measures, including crowd management, social distancing and face mask detection technologies. I believe the industry can overcome these new challenges by strengthening the role of interoperability today and championing the use of open platforms – as they allow organizations to create a more holistic, intelligent and sustainable system based on user needs. The pandemic and subsequent shifts in the economy continue to show the impracticality of the ‘build once and maintain forever’ concept. The security industry has the opportunity to utilize interoperability as a key part of meeting new challenges.
Are there any particular trends to come out of the past 12 months that you believe will continue to impact the sector in the long run?
While video analytics aren’t a new technology, especially in the security and safety industry, they have seen more widespread adoption over the past year. This is fueled by the development of AI technology and will be a major driver in the growth of analytics for the future. The use of AI-based algorithms is dependent on the sensor’s ability to provide data and metadata – and that requires interoperability beyond just the camera. This, in combination with an acceleration in the adoption of cloud technologies, will open up a great potential for the devices and clients in surveillance systems to provide increasing value beyond simple surveillance and go further to solve more unique vertical market use cases.
What new innovations are you excited to show off to the security industry at Connect 2021?
We are very excited about our Release Candidate for Profile M, which standardizes ways of defining and sending metadata and events for specific analytics applications. Metadata help provide actionable intelligence and make it easier to store and search for information of interest. Profile M will make it easier to integrate analytics solutions for security, business intelligence and IoT applications. It will encourage growth in the number and types of applications and enable even greater choice for end users. End users and system designers will be able to flexibly mix and match solutions from different providers of Profile M devices and services, and video management software or cloud services, and integrate these solutions with IoT applications.
Subscribe to the IFSEC Insider weekly newsletters
Enjoy the latest fire and security news, updates and expert opinions sent straight to your inbox with IFSEC Insider's essential weekly newsletters. Subscribe today to make sure you're never left behind by the fast-evolving industry landscape.
New profile additions to promote surveillance interoperability on the agenda for ONVIF at IFSEC ConnectONVIF details what it’s got planned for the future of interoperability standards in security, and what's on show at IFSEC Connect in June.
James Moore
IFSEC Insider | Security and Fire News and Resources
Related Topics
Convergence of physical and cyber security will be vital in protecting cities of the future
Why tech is transforming the intruder alarm market
WATCH: How do we secure and protect our public spaces and cities for the future?