Remember the film, Minority Report , which was about tampering CCTV recordings of crime scenes to hide evidence? Now, the €13-billion French firm Thales , with exposure in defence, security, aerospace and transport, has come out with a video surveillance product where each image is “watermarked” to prevent tampering, says Yan Levy, Business Development Director-Citizen Services, Thales, in an interview to BusinessLine . Edited excerpts:
What is the concept of a smart city and how does it vary across developed and developing nations?
There are two concepts: safe city and smart city. Safe city is a big foundation of a smart city. In a safe city, all processes, organisations, tools are dedicated to security agencies to help manage daily security missions, apart from large events.
There are two main approaches that will succeed in this market. First, to have a strong political commitment. Second, to define the concept of operation of security in a city. Say, I want a certain level of security, I have to modify the chain of command of operations or management processes. Once this is in place, you can bring in the technology. But, the approach should not be to plug a technology just because it is low-cost. There are two areas where you don’t play with costs: security and health.
Still, developing countries have lower per capita income. Since you have high innovation and many patents, can you discuss some low-cost solutions for a safe and smart city?
We are talking to Indian players because we want to bring and develop solutions for the local market. We will blend our approach with the approach of our local partner.
Which are the divisions of your company that are working toward development of smart cities?
Security is in all divisions of Thales, at each level. There is a dedicated division to manage defence and security, which manages all the aspects of a smart and safe city. When you talk about local partners, we are in the process of assessing our discussions with many players in India.
Apart from defence and security, talks are on in areas of critical infrastructure protection, cyber security and border surveillance protection.
For safety, video surveillance is a big component. But, where does privacy end and safety start? Can you cite cases where you do not capture data?
We go by what the customer and laws of each country demand. All countries have data privacy rules. For example, there is dynamic image masking. The camera captures images in public spaces, but when it moves into a private space, such as a building, it cannot capture it. Everything has to be encrypted and is not accessible to others. There is watermarking on the video to tag the video and ensure that it is not tampered with when it is to be used as proof.
Typically, who owns such videos?
Generally, the police, home affairs, security agencies — people in charge of collecting and using such data.
Can you elaborate on the watermark solution?
A video can have a lot of images — what we all call meta-data. We plug an electronic stamp in each image, so when the image is retrieved for analysis, it ensures that one is not able to move it and add another image. These are forensic reasons. We have such a solution in France for the Ministry of Interior (Home Affairs).
What about big data analysis?
Big data analysis is embedded in the projects — in transportation and security projects. This is a new and big area of development.
In Mexico, video, audio and website data is collected. We have analysts who use tools to extract intelligence information. We also have a tool to build the analysis of a situation. There, such data can be used in court in the form of a CDROM as a proof. The move helps hasten the investigation process.
When you talk of a smart city, does mobility fit in somewhere?
Yes, mobility is a component of a smart city. For instance, in Strasbourg (France), the seat of EU Parliament, which also held the NATO event, we have moved from a safe city to a smart one. We worked with the security of the city for the last 30 years to protect infrastructure, protect public and private space, and provide surveillance. It was a Greenfield project in terms of security 30 years ago, as the city was already existing. Since many people come from the suburbs, we built an intelligent transportation system to make people switch to public transportation.
One of your strengths is the integration of multiple modes of transport. Do you have a project where you have provided only integration?
In the Netherlands, we have provided full integration between bus, metro, tramway and even taxi, etc. It is a national programme with one unique card for all modes. We also provide back office clearing with all operators — public and private. This requires a strong political commitment.