printer friendly version

The secure game

Security technologies are being put to the test in the run up to the FIFA Soccer World Cup, especially video analytics.

With the opening ceremony of 2010 now just a handful of months away, projects are being completed and ticked off the priority lists of everyone involved in what promises to be the world’s biggest sporting event. Throughout South Africa, gleaming, newly-built and upgraded host stadia are fuelling excitement, work on the Gautrain is speeding along, and roads, airports and stations are being improved in preparation for the hundreds of thousands of visitors, both local and international, who will be attending the matches during the event.

In all, according to the official FIFA-endorsed South African website sa2010.gov.za, some R11,7 billion is being invested in the country’s transport system to ensure that it can handle the throng of commuters expected to make use of it during June and July next year. Additionally, the website reports that R665 million has been allocated to the procurement of security equipment as part of the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of South Africa’s citizens and visitors. To this end, the focus will be on border security at all land, sea and air entrances to the country as well as on-route security, specifically those leading to and from airports and cities.

Those at the rock face of security trends say that the security requirements around the event have intensified the interest in video analytics. Explains Jack Edery, CEO of Elvey Security Technologies: “Video analytics makes it possible to transcend the limitations of traditional CCTV (closed circuit television). Through the use of software and algorithms, computers are now able to analyse realtime CCTV footage and alert operators to threats and changes within a monitored environment. As a result, the technology has a huge role to play in applications such as traffic control, highway management, number plate recognition and people counting.”

Says Kenny Chiu, marketing manager for Elvey: “The success of 2010 hinges largely around the management and control of related environments, not only the stadia but also the parking areas, public transport systems and even the highways. There must be effective control over a range of issues including illegal parking, traffic flow, the identification of suspicious vehicles, people or behaviour in and around sports complexes, banks, embassies and the like. Still in its relative infancy, video analytics has already proved its worth in the fields of perimeter violation, licence plate recognition and people and vehicle counting, hence its growing take-up in a diverse range of sectors from government and security to transport and retail.”

Key attributes of video analytic technology include the ability to operate with indoor and outdoor PTZ and multiplexed switched video cameras and to detect a wide range of surveillance situations involving people, vehicles and other objects. In his books, a good system comprises a comprehensive range of detection filters. These make it possible to discriminate the object behaviours appropriate to each surveillance scene so that classification is always accurate. Systems are also able to automatically adjust to changing conditions, such as lighting and weather.

Video analytics is successfully being employed in a wide – and increasing – range of applications. These include intrusion detection, vehicle and traffic monitoring, people counting, loitering detection and object removal. Further, it has evolved to the point where it is able to detect camera tampering and failure.

“Parking and traffic regulations become much easier to enforce with the application of video analytics, saving valuable staff time and avoiding disruption or dangerous situations due to speeding or illegal parking,” Rory Webber, national sales manager of Elvey says. “No-parking zones can be identified allowing for the operator to be alerted whenever a vehicle has stopped in this area for longer than the defined period. A compatible video management system can use the indexing information generated by the video analytics software to immediately display video of the car stopping, allowing the driver to be identified and appropriate action to be taken swiftly. This technology can support the enforcement of parking regulations such as no-parking zones, drop-off zones, pedestrian crossings and bus lanes.

“Many concerns have been raised over the potential security issues surrounding 2010 for players, officials and in particular supporters,” notes Webber. “With hundreds of thousands of fans expected, it is essential that all possible means are taken to ensure their safety. South Africa has some of the most advanced electronic security measures in the world at its disposal and these will play a major part in making 2010 a memorable event for all the right reasons.”

Share this article:

Further reading: