Enhancing public safety and advancing a smart city vision with multi-directional cameras and video analytics.

The City of Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and the second most populous city in the country. It is the seat of the Scottish Government and the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. As well as serving a vital role in government, the city is economically significant for the region, attracting global tourism as well as being home to a world-renowned university. Protecting citizens and visitors as they move through the city and keeping Edinburgh’s roads running smoothly is of the utmost importance.

Transforming into a smart city

The City of Edinburgh Council leadership needed to modernise security and surveillance across the capital. This involved upgrading the control centre to a new smart city operations centre to receive real-time data from Edinburgh’s surveillance network. The centre also integrates with traffic and transport platforms to enhance operational management and improve city planning. The new control centre gives operators access to real-time data and analytics, for insights that improve response times and situational awareness.

Smart technology solutions provider, North, designed a security solution built with more than 100 high-resolution Hanwha Vision IP cameras including the PNM-9322VQP multi-directional PTZ camera and XNO-8080R 5MP IR bullet camera. The solution also incorporates a video management system from Genetec.

Comprehensive coverage and intelligence

Multi-directional cameras are ideal for monitoring large and complex areas such as city centres. The multi-directional PNM-9322VQP features five camera sensors in a single device, minimising the amount of cabling and server infrastructure required compared to installing five separate devices, to improve cost-efficiency while streamlining installation.

The XNO-8080R is a 5MP IR bullet camera with accurate video analytics. These analytics – carried out on the device to reduce server needs – include loitering, directional detection, audio detection and sound classification. It features Hallway View to cover narrow areas such as alleyways. Additionally, using the proprietary compression technology WiseStream II improves bandwidth by up to 75% while retaining video quality.

Best-in-class cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is crucial in a smart city, given the number of connected devices that could be exploited. Hanwha Vision has been hardening its cybersecurity measures for many years with the National Defense Authorization Act compliance (NDAA), UL CAP Certification, and a dedicated security vulnerability response team (S-CERT).