“What is a smart city?”

Despite the global smart city hype, with daily headlines about new smart city projects, cities competing to be the smartest and governments around the world investing billions in smart cities, I frequently hear someone say “But what is a smart city?”. Today, many of us turn to Google to find quick answers, and when googling this specific question, one of the first results is from Wikipedia, which currently summarizes a smart city as “A smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is used to manage assets and resources efficiently.” Another online dictionary defines a smart city as “A developed urban area that creates sustainable economic development and high quality of life by excelling in multiple key areas; economy, mobility, environment, people, living, and government.” There are a wide range of definitions for “what makes a smart city”. As

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Top 3 technologies that can “see” in the dark

When securing a location, it’s not uncommon to face challenging light conditions, especially if you don’t have easy access to artificial light sources. However, there are technologies that allow you to easily guard your perimeter, even in the dark. Say you need to surveil a remote critical infrastructure, such as an oil and gas facility in the middle of the desert. Installing and running enough artificial lamps to allow a perfect vision even at nighttime would be an expensive investment for your business, taking resources away from other areas you might want to improve. Thankfully, however, surveillance technology is not as dependent on light as it was twenty years ago. Below are three examples of technology which allow you to record detailed, sharp footage even in the worst light conditions. To understand how the functions work, let’s take a look at the reason why visible-light cameras – and the human

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Retaining forensic detail in challenging light conditions

Light is all-important when it comes to the effectiveness of video surveillance. Being able to see the full detail of a scene whatever the lighting conditions is essential. But this can be challenging in those environments which feature both very bright and very dark areas, such as entrance doors with bright sunshine outside and dim lights inside. The merits of Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) capabilities in security cameras have long been recognised when trying to view a scene with complex light conditions without compromising the forensic value associated with some video footage. However, high resolution cameras, with their detailed images, have so far been unable to benefit from WDR technology. This is because high resolution surveillance cameras struggle in scenes with a significant amount of movement. Unfortunately, this means that WDR hasn’t been used in all situations where it would have a positive impact. In announcing Forensic WDR – the

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Multiple methods for motion detection

There are many different options for motion detection, but which one best suits your needs? Here I look at some of the most widely used motion sensor technologies and explore the situations in which each can be used to its strengths. PIR Sensors Passive infrared (PIR) sensors pick up heat signatures from objects within their field of view. The sensor detects changes in the amount of infrared radiation it picks up, and when a threshold limit is reached the sensor will trigger whatever it is connected to – be it a light, alarm or camera. To learn more about how they work, click here. This simple technology is effective in what it does, but the simplicity of the design brings with it inherent problems. For one, the output from the sensor is a very simple yes/no (e.g. switch the light on or don’t). The significance of this will become apparent when

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Macro trends affecting public transportation

Public transport is the lifeblood of a city, moving millions of inhabitants to their destinations and connecting different boroughs. To put the number of people relying on public transport into perspective, in 2016, the average weekday New York subway ridership was 5.7 million. If public transport were to cease, the city would seize up. A new wave of travel for an online society Like it or not we live in an on-demand society where consumers want the services they need, as they need them, at the swipe of an app – and expect them to run as efficiently as possible. We are seeing this trend spread to public transport services with mobility as a service, or MaaS. There are various definitions and development stages of MaaS around the world today. One is that MaaS brings all kinds of transport together into a single service via intuitive mobile phone apps. These apps

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Ensuring privacy when undertaking surveillance

Surveillance and privacy are not natural bedfellows. However, as the public begin to understand how surveillance can help with their safety and security, the use of surveillance in public places is becoming more accepted. While privacy has always been a priority in the surveillance industry, public awareness over their rights has been heightened by initiatives like GDPR in Europe and FISMA in the US. As a result, organizations have had to take note and show how they are safeguarding privacy to not only protect their brand perception, but also comply with union regulations that specify privacy protections in the workplace. All of this combined is putting more pressure on organizations to secure their surveillance data. Ensuring users understand their obligations Surveillance cameras are a common sight in public places – in 2016 there were thought to be nearly 350 million surveillance cameras worldwide – and people are accepting that they will be caught on

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Boosting mall performance through analytics

According to a report by AT Kearney entitled, The future of shopping centers, mall operators will need to master two sets of technologies to achieve a seamless customer experience: The way in which people shop has been slowly changing. With the rise in popularity of online shopping, people can get anything they like delivered to their door, so the reasons they attend malls is for the whole experience. More than just shopping,   malls now and in the future are about giving visitors unique experiences, sometimes referred to retail-tainment. Shopping malls are environments where people gather to meet friends, connect with like-minded shoppers and interact with brands – with the expectation of a seamless experience between online shopping and instore purchasing. The extent to which this trend is developing varies across the world, but Asian malls have come far in meeting growing customer demands for a richer in-mall experience. Technologies consumers use in

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