Oliver Vellacott, CEO and founder of leading video technology company IndigoVision, talks about the change in public attitudes towards CCTV surveillance.
Oliver Vellacott, CEO and founder of leading video technology company IndigoVision, talks about the change in public attitudes towards CCTV surveillance from intrusive "Big Brother" to supportive "Big Mother"
Societies are experiencing a subtle shift in opinion about CCTV surveillance systems. "Big Brother" is being replaced with a new acceptance that video has a vital role in ensuring a safer society, and is now watching over you rather than watching you.<br>
September’s terrorist outrage and the subsequent threat of biological terrorist attacks have gone a long way to change the way society views security surveillance and many now receive great solace from knowing that they are being watched and looked out for. Several recent UK public surveys confirm these views: one area’s residents and businesses identify CCTV as more important than any other element of crime prevention ‘ even including greater police numbers ‘ and another city cites a 49 per cent reduction in crime as a result of a new CCTV installation. Many are now talking of digitally networked video camera systems, such as those powered by IndigoVision technology, providing a valuable security umbrella that not only allows the monitoring and recording of high quality video from an unlimited number of cameras. They also allow new applications such as face recognition that will spot a known face instantly and biometrics programmes that will allow for irises to be checked at an airport check-in for instance, to be added to the network. In addition to crime prevention, the introduction of digital CCTV can also slash the time it takes to painstakingly analyse video evidence after a crime has been committed, bringing forward investigations and resultant convictions. Yet the vast majority of current CCTV systems use analogue video tape as their medium, leading to poor quality images and limited scope to store images captured ‘ sometimes mere snapshots that are hard to detect and hard to identify. Perhaps if Logan airport had been networked with digital video, as Brussels airport is for instance, and had this digital feed been interpreted live by remote security staff in monitoring centres at the CIA or FBI, then disasters such as this could have been averted. The technology also exists now to screen passengers with facial recognition "biometrics" systems at check-in and prior to boarding, and to have live digital video feeds from inside aircraft to ground control centres. Brussels International Airport has a 700-camera system which, besides being the largest and most advanced video-over-Internet system in the world, records continuous crystal clear video from every camera and provides access to airport operations and external agencies ‘ baggage handling, customs, fire, police, security etc. This level of sophistication takes security and monitoring way beyond the current generation of hybrid analogue/digital systems and will take the fight against terrorism to new levels of effectiveness. IndigoVision video technology powers a range of digital CCTV products from industry leading manufacturers like Panasonic, Ultrak and Baxall. It already lies at the heart of many high security and high-risk environments that require surveillance, monitoring, real-time analysis or recording. Its technology was deployed as part of a comprehensive digital video CCTV network for the police authorities in Genoa, Italy. This network proved highly effective in helping the authorities deal with crowd control and subsequently provide evidence supporting criminal prosecution following the recent G8 summit. IndigoVision technology was also a key feature in the Ground Zero operation in New York; it was embedded in the cameras on the remote robots used to survey the area as part of the rescue operation. Video footage obtained was of such quality it was later broadcast on US news TV networks. Reassuringly the same technology is also being used in the security network on the new JFK-Manhattan light railway. Perhaps a true example of the new "Big Mother" perception is highlighted by the improvements digital networked video has made to improved community relations and local democracy. In Hull in the UK, for example, studies have comprehensively shown that the use of high quality digital CCTV networks is having a positive effect on the urban regeneration of inner city areas. In France at COGEMA-La Hague, a major nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, the 24×365 always-on digital CCTV network allows the public to view cameras around the facility over the web, providing re-assurance and a virtual "open door" for public education about the process. Big Mother has arrived and should be welcomed by all societies.
About IndigoVision Group plc
IndigoVision Group plc is a supplier of video intellectual property to major semiconductor and product manufacturers worldwide. Founded in 1994, IndigoVision operates from headquarters in Edinburgh, UK, with offices in Tokyo, San Jose and Boston. IndigoVision floated on the London Stock Exchange (IND.L) in August 2000. IndigoVision’s rapidly growing range of partners and licensees include Panasonic, Videology, Baxall, Ultrak, Coe and Cirrus Logic.
