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Putting intelligence into SA transportation

The South African transportation industry faces a number of critical challenges in its endeavours to establish a secure service.

While South Africa's transportation services are not as developed as our international counterparts, the threats we face are no less serious. In light of emerging services such as the Gautrain, we will have to address these challenges sooner rather than later.

Firstly, although essentially one service, South Africa's transportation is inherently disparate; Johannesburg train station's security environment is quite different from some of our smaller stations. The challenge therefore is that you may get different reactions or responses to similar security incidents across the country. In addition, securing facilities that are remote and removed from one another is also a big challenge.

The question is therefore, how do you control your personnel and secure your facilities, irrespective of their geographical location; ensuring that in the event of a security breach the public is protected?

The solution, well part of the solution, is technology. For one, technology enables quality assurance, thus ensuring that the facilities whether in Johannesburg or De Aar are run in a secure and consistent manner.

Looking at it more closely, there are currently a number of cutting-edge technologies that greatly improve the security of public services. Video content analytics is one - the technology represents the next dynamic evolution of close circuit TV (CCTV), offering a dramatic improvement in both features and functionality.

Video analytics is essentially the automatic analysis of video images to identify suspicious events and behaviours in realtime. Taking motion detection to a new level, it characterises moving objects based on their size, shape, direction and speed, and analyses this behaviour based on predefined rules. For example, if an object is removed or added in a certain area - as determined by the predefined rules - the system will automatically flag it.

It therefore detects any disruption to an area and allows security to act in a preventive and proactive manner. Indeed, with video content analytics you are making the system more intelligent, greatly improving your security personnel's response times and resultant efficiency.

Another important security stride is neural network technology. Embedded in our own security solutions, it analyses movement within certain areas - if movement in a certain direction is normal and there is suspicious movement in the opposite direction - like someone running away - it will immediately alert an alarm.

The technology behind neural networks is fascinating as it is indirectly based on the nervous systems of humans and animals. It is an artificial intelligence technology for pattern recognition, enabling users to make realtime decisions as a result of changes in patterns.

While the above technologies provide you with realtime information, how do you react in the event of a security breach or threat? Again, there is a feasible technology solution; situation management solutions provide you with the information needed to act in the best possible manner.

The tool provides graphical maps of the area in question as well as relevant video content that will enable you to make the most informed decision allowing you to disperse your personnel in the most effective manner.

Furthermore, situation management also offers a reporting function providing important information on how long it took to handle a specific situation, enabling the team to rectify and improve on its reaction when the next incident occurs. By partnering with the right security solution provider and deploying the right technology, our transportation industry can fortify its facilities, services and reaction of personnel - ultimately making travelling a far more secure experience.

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