ISEC 2003 held in mid-October provided a landmark occasion for the electronic security environment with a combination of two of the most respected CCTV figures internationally and a range of specialist South African speakers who addressed key issues facing CCTV today. This dedicated CCTV forum with its high profile mix of speakers was probably one of the most unique opportunities to gain perspectives on CCTV in recent years.
Charlie Pierce has probably covered more of the globe than almost any other CCTV practitioner, and had a wealth of experience to share with delegates. Similarly, Mike Tennent provided a range of inputs from his experiences in the UK, itself probably the most developed CCTV market in the world. These and other perspectives on legal, networking, IT, and human factor issues from specialist speakers provided the opportunity for parties ranging from distributors, to installers, to clients to all learn and get a common reference of the key issues and problems.
Key themes
A key theme that emerged from the conference is that CCTV continues to see rapid development and changes. The foremost of these changes is the move from analog to digital. Although still a somewhat rocky transition with the lack of common standards particularly problematic, digital appears to have moved past the cost barrier and current issues seem to centre around the quality of information and recordings.
With even casinos, who are probably the most demanding of clients in terms of quality of evidence starting to look at digital systems seriously, it looks like the time of digital has come. More conservative clients may still stick with analog systems, but the industry is being swept through on a tide of digital pushed through by manufactures, technology improvements, and the versatility of computer-based systems.
It perhaps indicates a need for companies to have clear strategies outlined, possibly even indicating transitional arrangements in terms of going digital. Part of this could involve a framework for evaluating digital equipment and systems as discussed by Tennent. There are still no easy answers to whether digital is the way to go, but the direction is becoming clearer. This will, however, be guided by the concepts of being fit for purpose and as Pierce so strongly put it the need to be guided by 'the application'. This was also emphasised by myself and Brian Barnes in issues around the best practice of specifying and designing systems.
An IP and network-based future
It is clear that we are seeing the rise of the networking specialist in security and more and more we will see combined functions addressed by both security and IT together. Rather than being in competition, these parties are increasingly going to be working together. This is going to demand management of perspectives, approaches, pricing policies, and just simple issues around terminology. Darren Smith highlighted these issues in his initial presentation contextualising security in a changing world.
The presentation by Emmett Green was very well received by delegates because it took some of the aspects Smith mentioned and highlighted a number of the implementation issues users have started grappling with and will increasingly do so in the future. Also, he touched on some of the limits imposed by the South African infrastructure and legislation in the area. Undoubtedly in ISEC 2004 the mix of IT and security delegates will be significantly greater.
Legislative issues
Few managers or other participants in the industry have realised the scope and impact of the new legislation on plans for CCTV application, expansion, and data management. As Helaine Leggat indicated, there is a range of legal issues coming through that are going to have a major impact on the way things are done and the way information is stored and handled. These are going to be one of the key points and responsibilities that will need to be dealt with in the next two years - something that management development strategies and budgets will have to be designed to address.
South Africa needs to learn the lessons from places like the UK where many people were totally intimidated by the prospects of legislation and felt that they were being stopped from doing their job properly. A few years on, the legislation has been accepted and has become of a common part of day to day operations which have largely remained the same, but have now adopted a more defined set of standards and practices that address legal concerns. Operations here in South Africa need a structured and informed training process to update all players on the key aspects of legislation. This area is sure to be revisited frequently over the next few years as case law and legal clarification comes through to redefine our expectations and appreciation of the legislative provisions.
The human factor
Human factors are likely to become more important in the future. I emphasised a number of implementation errors in the area in some of my presentations that continue to be made time and time again, particularly in control room design and selection and training. Much of dealing with human factors is common sense, it just needs to be thought about from the beginning. However, it is the interface design and intelligent systems areas that provide the greatest potential for change in the way CCTV is tackled.
Operators will be able to do more with their equipment than they have ever done before, possibly in ways that at this stage we can only guess. As these positions become more high impact and specialised, getting the right people in place is going to become even more critical to the success of system delivery. It was also clear that it is becoming increasingly more important than ever for industry participants to keep up to date with developments through continued education and training.
Securing security solutions
Decisions on millions of rands of equipment are being made in the area of CCTV and security, and trends show this will continue as CCTV becomes increasingly part of security and safety strategies in public, commercial, and private environments. The ISEC 2003 conference highlighted many of the considerations on choosing and implementing CCTV systems. However, Smith's presentation on the security of security systems was compelling listening and as he so clearly put it, we need to ensure that not only do we have the right equipment, but it needs to be secure.
As traditional security moves into areas that are increasingly out of its traditional expertise like IT, managers and staff at all levels need to be aware of the implications of what they do and the information they collect, and how this can be compromised in any number of ways exploited by a range of hackers and other parties who we had only previously read about in magazines and newspapers.
South Africa is still relatively high in the technology race as far as CCTV is concerned and Pierce indicated that we stand up well in international comparisons. We have the major products, types of technology, and ideas. If anything, the infrastructure and costs are holding us back, but the reputation of South Africans for making plans and developing solutions in difficult situations is well founded and will result in continued exciting developments in the future. We look forward to ISEC 2004 to hear more about these success stories and how these compare against international developments.
For more information contact Craig Donald, Leaderware, 011 787 7811, [email protected], www.leaderware.com
Dr Craig Donald is an industrial psychologist and specialist in human factors in security and CCTV. He is the co-developer of the Surveillance and Monitoring Assessment Exercise (SAMAE) for the selection and placement of CCTV operators and presenter of the CCTV Surveillance Skills training course. He can be contacted on telephone: (011) 787 7811, fax: (011) 886 6815, or e-mail: [email protected]
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