Building the next new with Milestone!

Milestone Systems organized Building the New Next conference in Dubai, UAE.

Ms. Malou Toft, VP of APAC, Milestone Systems, and Jos Beernink, VP of EMEA, Milestone Systems, echoed that the world has definitely changed over the last year. We also realize that investing in our most important relationships is key. Beernink added that they are excited to share new themes, best practices, etc. Partnerships and collaborations are key for success. Ms. Toft said that video technology is redefining our lives. We are building the new next.

Video technology is advancing and it’s moving fast. Experts explored what tomorrow will bring for technology, industry and society. The experts were: Hani Khalaf, CTO, IoT and Edge Technologies, Dell, Jon Cropley, Principal Analyst, Novera Insights, Dr. Daniel Hulme, CEO, Satalia, and WPP, and Dr. Barry Norton, VP Research, Milestone.

Khalaf said partnerships are becoming more important today. We can help customer drive transformation. Cropley said they speak regularly with industry stakeholders. Dr. Norton added that he runs two labs, such as applied research.

Do today's technologies have destructive potential? Dr. Hulme said surveillance is different. We need to understand the impact and develop technologies better. Khalaf added that we have the governance, and also need to know exactly how the technology is being used.

Regarding market trends, Cropley said China is unique. Outside China, market for video surveillance is forecast to grow to $2.5 billion by 2026. We are seeing price increases for hardware, ongoing trend to cloud, and greater use of video analytics. We are seeing players move to subscription models. Khalaf added that cloud is an operating model of how you consume your IT. Dr. Hulme noted that we need to move away from one-time purchase. We need to define what the infrastructure looks like in future.

What are opportunities in security? Cropley noted that lot of use cases are not known yet. Video surveillance is used for various purposes. It is also a catalyst for movement from the cloud. It is also a catalyst for integration of video security with other technologies. Dr. Norton said that post-pandemic, we are looking at how do we use buildings and video. For us, occupancy matters. People are also deploying CO2 detectors to see how their air quality is. Khalaf added that we are looking at hyper-customization.

How all of this will change society? Dr. Norton said he was used to surveillance in village. AI, analytics helps track vehicles and people. We are still missing knowledge in the AI conversation. We also need to take care of human responsibility. Dr. Hulme added that technologies are challenging us as well, such as deep fakes, etc. Environmental is another factor. We can use technologies to generate content. We need to look at the issue between freedom and safety. The intent to use data to better people's lives is critical.

Why is the role of data so important? Dr. Norton said we talk about smaller apps during the pandemic. We can play a part in that economy. Khalaf added that data is key for any city or organization. We need to look at how you can collect and make use of data. Data fusion can create use cases for future businesses. Video can give you view of the city. When it gets data from other hospitals, for example, we can get IoT data.

Dr. Hulme noted that you can use data or metadata. It is about the intent for data. Dr. Norton said it is about transparency. Explain-ability is something we are getting to hear about a lot. Khalaf noted that we need to make sure we have explainable AIs. We need to have AI models that are explainable.

Dr. Norton said that we also need to be aware that societies are going to judge us in future. The EU AI Act is one example. We need to define what we are going to do. We need to use technology to do what is socially acceptable. Dr. Hulme said it is going to be an interesting challenge. Khalaf said AI is about data, algorithms, etc. It is our responsibility to teach. Dr. Hulme said that we also need to collaborate with partners.