TOP TRENDS
What’s in store for the physical security industry? By Johan Paulsson, CTO at Axis Communications
It is said the only constant in life is change. In that respect, 2017 was another critical year for the physical security industry that demonstrated continued progression of IP camera and audio technology. Not only are many firms utilising IP technology to ensure the safety and security of their staff and premises, but they are also now able to operate more intelligently. This year, there is no doubt this evolution is continuing. The pace of technological innovation is such that even the most fantastic of imagined futures could become reality in the near future. We have put together the top 10 technology trends that we believe will have a major impact on the physical security industry going forward.
2. Cloud-to-cloud
Despite the move towards edge computing, the cloud will continue to play a role in IT infrastructures. As an increasing number of companies offer cloud-based services, the cloud eco system is increasingly becoming the preferred point of integration, rather than the traditional on-premise system. One benefit of integration between clouds is a significant potential reduction of inhouse IT services required, creating great cost benefits.
Johan Paulsson CTO
4. Personalisation vs. privacy 3. Deep and machine learning
1. At the edge technology
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Cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been growing trends in recent years, delivering undeniable benefits to businesses and consumers. This has come with its own implications, namely an increased amount of data being transferred from connected devices to the data center for processing and storage, with increased bandwidth required. Edge computing alleviates this issue by performing data processing at the edge of the network, closer to the source of the data. Doing so reduces the bandwidth needed between sensors, devices and the data center.
We have reached a stage where the benefits of deep learning architectures and machine learning can start to be realised. The explosion of data is helping businesses become increasingly intelligent. As applications develop, there are significant opportunities for predictive analytics which could facilitate incident prevention: from terrorist incidents to slip and fall accidents; from traffic issues to shoplifting; and even the tragedy of rail suicides.
Deep learning will help deliver highly personalised services. For example, in a retail store a customer’s face could be recognised upon entry, with product offers pushed to their mobile device based on previous purchases or even their browsing history. That said, this example immediately highlights privacy concerns around how personal data is being used by organisations. Legislation is being created to address these concerns. In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will unify the protection of data for individuals within the EU, wherever that data is held or used.