Edinburgh accelerates Smart City transformation thanks to Genetec

The City of Edinburgh Council’s Smart City strategy focuses on introducing innovative technologies to manage resources more efficiently and improve public services. A key barrier to this vision has been the outdated Public Space Surveillance system, which lacked the ability to integrate new applications and technologies in equal measure.

Thanks to funding from the European Regional Development Fund and in partnership with integrated systems designer North, the City of Edinburgh Council has launched a state-of-the-art Smart City Operations Centre built on the foundations of Genetec’s Security Center, itself a unified platform that combines video surveillance, analytics and Internet of Things sensors.

Unified security

“All truly connected Smart Cities start with unified security as their success depends on centralising operations under one platform,” commented Ben Durrant, account executive at Genetec. “Otherwise, every new Internet of Things device deployed will realise a data-rich, but information poor environment.”

Durrant added: “Our platform differs from conventional alternatives due to its open hybrid-cloud architecture that offers the flexibility and functionality needed to evolve and keep pace with new requirements.”

With a unified platform in place, the City of Edinburgh Council has been able to expand CCTV coverage in public spaces and enable secure data sharing with partners including Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Transport for Edinburgh.

The system not only supports day-to-day operations and the management of large-scale events such as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Royal Military Tattoo and the Hogmanay celebrations, but also extends its capabilities beyond physical security.

Andrew Foster, managing director for public services at North, informed Security Matters: “The Security Center ecosystem allows us to gather and visualise useful data sets from advanced analytics Internet of Things sensors on how the city is actually being used by residents and visitors alike. This then enables the City of Edinburgh Council to make more informed decisions on how Edinburgh can become even safer, greener and better maintained.”

Viewing requests 

The City of Edinburgh Council credits the Genetec software with saving hundreds of ‘man hours’ that were previously spent manually trawling through surveillance footage. It has also assisted the organisation to more than double the number of surveillance footage viewing requests that it can accept from Police Scotland and issue positive responses.

What’s more, the improved quality of any surveillance footage submitted as evidence is also expected to increase the number of early guilty pleas, in turn reducing the time police officers must spend attending court to give evidence.

“The benefits realized by Security Center for the City of Edinburgh’s residents are substantial,” concluded Gavin Brown, head of network management and enforcement for the organisation. “Enhanced public safety, improved services, optimised traffic flow, better infrastructure and city planning are all part of the mix. Genetec and North have proven instrumental in helping to deliver our ‘Smart City’ strategy.”

*Further information is available online at www.genetec.com