Firas Jadalla, the Regional Director for the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa at Genetec, says that the Middle East and GCC have been important regions for Genetec

How was 2021 for the industry and your company?
Video Surveillance technologies have developed tremendously over the past few months to enhance public safety and protect cities, enterprises, facilities, and communities. One of the most important advancements is the emergence of occupancy management solutions, which have become more important than ever as businesses adhere to social distancing guidelines. These solutions can count people in a physical facility, visualize data, alert staff, and provide useful consumer behavior insights.

Additionally, as cities and organizations prioritize securing data and protecting individual privacy, newer solutions engineered with privacy by design have been introduced. These new solutions involve comprehensive privilege management allowing organizations to restrict user access to their system, automatic anonymization of video to protect individual privacy, and securely collecting and managing evidence.

Cloud-based surveillance has seen new developments and new cloud-based video monitoring systems that make it easier for users to view the video live from anywhere, are secure, scalable, and easy to manage. Moreover, advancements in machine learning and rendering technologies have revolutionized video analytics in surveillance as well. Innovative solutions can combine unified and third-party analytics technologies to transform video into smart, actionable data. They improve overall security and operational efficiency, so users can learn about their environment and proactively react to any threats.

What were your key achievements in 2021?
Our key achievements were a unified platform for video surveillance, Access Control, and license plate recognition, and the following products:

• Mission control is a decision management system that helps you understand unfolding events and quickly identify the best course of action. It simplifies the response coordination between stakeholders, speeding up incident resolution.
• Clear ID is a self-service physical identity and access management (PIAM) system that strengthens your security policies while improving the flow of people within your organization. Unified with our access control system, Security Center
• Synergis, this cloud-based solution can be quickly and easily deployed.
• Security Center Restricted Security Area (RSA) Surveillance brings together different detection and tracking devices under a single visualization pane. Moving targets are automatically tracked on geographical maps and intuitively displayed so that security personnel can assess and respond to threats in less time.

Do you see opportunities in the regional markets with new markets opening up?
The Middle East and GCC have been important regions for Genetec, and even more so in the last decade as we have seen exponential growth in the physical security and cybersecurity fields. According to the 2020 Global Law and Order Report, the United Arab Emirates was ranked in the top ten countries in the world for security and personal safety. One of the driving forces behind the vigorous update of rules is the nation’s vision of becoming a Smart City that involves public safety as one of the key eight pillars.

Additionally, the report by Genetec on ‘Physical Security in the EMEA Region’ launched in April 2021, has given us clearer insights on how physical security teams in the region are leveraging technology to manage both their short-term and long-term needs and priorities.

This is all testament to the need for Genetec’s offering in the region, and we aim to continue growing in the region by expanding our key verticals and creating impactful partnerships.

According to you, which technologies will be in demand in 2022?
According to the Genetec EMEA Physical Security in 2021 survey, physical security specialists have embraced digitization and begun shifting their operations and data to the cloud, a substantially expanding trend for the approaching years. While this enhances data security, it still leaves them open to cyber-attacks and data breaches.

Following last year’s events, the research states that cybersecurity is more crucial than ever in the physical security industry, with decision-makers preferring to prioritize it moving forward. Given the boom in 5G and AI, these are both technologies projected to revolutionise the coming few years and largely affect the security sector in terms of better user experience, more detailed video analytics, and much more.

What will be your key focus areas for 2022?
As we continue to expand into the region, our main focus is working with key partners across various sectors, including oil & gas, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and entering into the banking and finance field as well.

Do you plan to enter new markets or add new products/applications to your portfolio in 2022?
We have just launched the industry’s first enclosure management solution that gives traffic managers and engineers the ability to remotely manage, monitor, and secure traffic enclosures. Using Cloud Link Roadrunner, an industry-specific NEMA TS2 (National Electrical Manufacturer Association) compliant hardware, combined with the latest in access management software, the new enclosure management solution replaces traditional mechanical locks and enables customers to know and control who, how, and when their remote enclosures are accessed.

By unifying enclosure management solutions and video surveillance, traffic operations staff can instantly verify an event without having to deploy crews and act promptly if needed. Likewise, access to the enclosures can be granted remotely and customized to the nature of the work to be done and the role of the contractor or employee.