Industry Focus

What’s Next?

The growth of technology is everywhere. What’s next for the security industry? I think the next innovation poised to transform the security industry will be deep learning or artificial intelligence (AI), which is a system that learns by looking at masses of data.

Look at it this way: it is a child in grammar school, soaking up as much information as possible, and once digested, some of the most amazing things will take place.

Three decades ago, I interviewed an Air Force general at the Air Force Logistics Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and he was all gung ho on AI. He predicted that before long, AI would be the normal accepted practice of gathering information, not the exception. He was right.

The key to future command control is speed, and that speed will come from automation, according to Gen. Stephen Wilson, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

The Air Force must look to the latest innovations in automation from industry and younger airmen to maintain its superiority across domains, he said.

“How do we sense the environment? How do we understand it? And how do we become able to [implement] effects on the globe across all domains...it’s about speed and speed will be helped by the automation,” said Wilson, speaking at the 2017 Defense One Summit.

Automation in the Air Force is being implemented both in its own right and as a step in the process of developing artificial intelligence (AI). Automation uses software algorithms, but it does not have the “learning” and predictive capacities of AI.

Deep learning and AI are pushing the boundaries for a wide range of uses, including physical security. There seem to be three factors, beginning with Big Data, which we have heard about on many occasions long before now. This includes multiples of sensors, including video cameras, where a mass of data is produced on a daily basis, and where systems can be trained effectively.

Second, there will always be an abundance of new algorithms, which train neural networks at a much quicker pace, and finally, we already know there is no shortage of computer hardware capable of understanding and processing calculations rapidly.

While this isn’t breaking news, I feel certain that attendees at the April ISC West will be entertained by the newest and latest trends in AI, deep learning and neural network computing. All these things are currently available on computers, embedded in edge devices and are in the cloud.

Wilson really nailed it when he said it is the younger airmen who bring this to the forefront. The leading role that the newest generation of airmen play will be in automating the Air Force.

“The young people are already [technologically empowered] … airmen will reach out and say ‘check out this app that I wrote’ or ‘this code that does this’ ‘I was doing this and it took a long time, and it was very labor intensive, so I wrote my own app that did this’ and that’s the fact of this innovation,” Wilson said. “It is a groundswell from the bottom that we’ve got to be able to unleash.”

This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher of Security Today magazine.

Featured

  • Gaining a Competitive Edge

    Ask most companies about their future technology plans and the answers will most likely include AI. Then ask how they plan to deploy it, and that is where the responses may start to vary. Every company has unique surveillance requirements that are based on market focus, scale, scope, risk tolerance, geographic area and, of course, budget. Those factors all play a role in deciding how to configure a surveillance system, and how to effectively implement technologies like AI. Read Now

  • 6 Ways Security Awareness Training Empowers Human Risk Management

    Organizations are realizing that their greatest vulnerability often comes from within – their own people. Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity breaches, making it imperative for organizations to address human risk effectively. As a result, security awareness training (SAT) has emerged as a cornerstone in this endeavor because it offers a multifaceted approach to managing human risk. Read Now

  • The Stage is Set

    The security industry spans the entire globe, with manufacturers, developers and suppliers on every continent (well, almost—sorry, Antarctica). That means when regulations pop up in one area, they often have a ripple effect that impacts the entire supply chain. Recent data privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and CPRA in California made waves when they first went into effect, forcing businesses to change the way they approach data collection and storage to continue operating in those markets. Even highly specific regulations like the U.S.’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) can have international reverberations – and this growing volume of legislation has continued to affect global supply chains in a variety of different ways. Read Now

  • Access Control Technology

    As we move swiftly toward the end of 2024, the security industry is looking at the trends in play, what might be on the horizon, and how they will impact business opportunities and projections. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • ResponderLink

    ResponderLink

    Shooter Detection Systems (SDS), an Alarm.com company and a global leader in gunshot detection solutions, has introduced ResponderLink, a groundbreaking new 911 notification service for gunshot events. ResponderLink completes the circle from detection to 911 notification to first responder awareness, giving law enforcement enhanced situational intelligence they urgently need to save lives. Integrating SDS’s proven gunshot detection system with Noonlight’s SendPolice platform, ResponderLink is the first solution to automatically deliver real-time gunshot detection data to 911 call centers and first responders. When shots are detected, the 911 dispatching center, also known as the Public Safety Answering Point or PSAP, is contacted based on the gunfire location, enabling faster initiation of life-saving emergency protocols. 3

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3