SubscribeThe current security landscape can be characterised as an era of planning, designing, and implementing solutions for escalating security needs in almost every aspect of our daily lives.
Military bases, government buildings, public utilities, transportation hubs, airports, ports, and virtually every physical asset must be prepared for the ever-changing scope of threats to our safety and security.
The initial response to the September 11th attacks included several tactical maneuvers, including the relocation and addition of concrete and barbed wire barriers, increased security personnel and awareness, additional metal detectors and screeners, etc. More recently, many agencies have deployed additional and more complex access control systems (ACS) and intrusion detection systems (IDS). Some of these systems include basic CCTV monitoring, while other systems may contain more complex intelligent video and biometrics capabilities.
Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) sensors are also contributing to the complex network of systems being designed and deployed today. The next steps to improve our overall security will be to integrate various levels of intelligence fusion into our future deployed security and safety systems.
The security landscape is evolving into a more complex network of integrated systems, all while the cost of deploying these systems is declining. Fortunately, the cost per security "horsepower" is also currently declining, providing an optimum opportunity to increase security measures worldwide.
Security Landscape Challenges
The security threat level and the complexity of related security "data" is on the rise. Consequently, the need to have situational awareness by viewing a common operational picture (COP) is escalating (see Figure 1). Security operators and agents are currently flooded with a tremendous amount of audio and video data, frequently displayed on a wall of monitors. We must provide systems that present "information" rather than a lot of "data." These systems help us to better prepare, detect, assess, and then respond to and recover from a threat.
Figure 1: Common Operational Picture (COP)
Local, regional, and federal/national agencies must collaborate in providing a coordinated response, as depicted by the Intergraph Command and Control System shown in Figure 2. Spatial awareness of all resources and assets is critical.
Figure 2: Intergraph Command and Control System
Several key challenges impact how security personnel perform their day-to-day jobs. These challenges influence the system design and deployed architecture that customers demand to meet daily business and security requirements. The first security challenge is providing critical infrastructure protection for military bases, government buildings, public utilities, transportation hubs, airports, ports, and virtually every physical asset we interact with in our daily lives. The second security challenge is to effectively prepare, detect, assess, and respond to the threat of terrorism and natural disasters. This challenge creates the need for a focus on incident management.
The third challenge relates to the focus on agency interoperability. As depicted above, it is common for an emergency operations center (EOC) to have more than 20 systems that do not or cannot communicate with one another. Additional data does not necessarily represent additional usable information. We must avoid the "information bound scenario," where technology stovepipes provide extensive data but do not provide usable information. At the same time, we must field solutions that conform to compliances and use solutions based on open standards. This approach not only encourages interoperability, but also brings its own set of challenges.
The fourth challenge is maintaining costs while increasing the level of security. Agencies are frequently called on to do more with less. The trend of decreasing cost per security horsepower helps here, but does not completely address the challenges in this area. We frequently discover that the challenge of interoperability, scalability, and compliance to regulations is directly related to costs. We must, therefore, find the optimum solution, given our unique needs and requirements.
Whether it's spanning multiple, geographically dispersed sites or crossing jurisdictions and national and local agencies, the ability to seamlessly share information is becoming evermore critical. While many tools and sensors exist to view operational and tactical information, what has been lacking is the ability to tie information from these many systems into a single view that can be shared among disparate organizations. Intergraph is an industry leader, building visionary solutions that address these needs for:
- Turning vast amounts of data into intelligent information
- Facilitating better and faster decision making
- Addressing the complete public safety enterprise
- Preparing for emergencies and plan responses
- Creating a safer world
With more than 30 years of history in the geospatial arena, Intergraph has consistently demonstrated an ability to understand and meet market requirements through innovation and the adoption of strategic platforms and technologies.
It is against this backdrop that Intergraph provides our suite of security products (see Figure 3). The suite works in conjunction with the proven Intergraph Computer Aided Dispatch (I/CAD) offering. I/CAD seamlessly integrates an interactive, real-time map display with call handling, dispatching, records and information management, remote access, and mobile data.
The resulting system is more than 99.99 percent reliable, is highly scalable and configurable, and has been proven globally in numerous first responder projects. The vision of our security products is to provide decision support for command-and-control EOCs, where an integrated COP is the driving force. A high-level overview of Intergraph's security products follows.
Figure 3: Intergraph Security Products
I/CAD Extensions for the C2 Operator
I/AlarmPlus provides a bi-directional ACS and IDS interface and includes integration with video surveillance systems. It can be used to display multiple (disparate) systems messages into a single alarm monitor. Alarm queue and alarm device control monitors are provided in this application.
I/Sensor provides a bi-directional interface with external sensor systems. Most external sensors such as RFID tags, infrared motion detectors, unattended ground sensors (UGS), and ground surveillance radars can be integrated into the I/Sensor application.
I/Sight is a bi-directional integration with third-party video systems, such as digital video recorder/camera systems that may include pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras. It can define queued camera views from associated event triggers and configure CAD events to show related alarm and video devices. It can also create user-definable surveillance loops.
The GeoSpatial Monitor (GSM) extends the geospatial capability of the Intergraph Security Framework and Computer-Aided Dispatch (I/CAD) systems by providing live access to GIS data. GSM is a full-featured geographic information system (GIS) built with Intergraph's GeoMedia Professional. GSM is "tuned" for the security professional, supporting icon animations, flashing, blinking, dynamic sizing, use of colors and translucency, and icon swapping.
Emergency Operations Center Applications
I/Asset is a real-time asset management system for major events. It provides information relating to what resources are available and in what quantities, as well as where they are located. It is configured to communicate with and mine external data sources like text files, ODBC compliant databases, or Microsoft® Excel spreadsheets. It provides a single, consolidated catalog of selected resources, with different views for different user groups.
I/Consequence assists with the creation and implementation of response plans to major events. Users can define, display, and maintain pre-defined response plans that are both rules based, and real time. I/Consequence provides role-based access for the response plans and checklists across the agency.
Training and Simulation Applications
I/Simulator addresses training for command-and-control operators. The simulation closely mimics the real world, and is based on a real CAD chronology. I/Simulator provides instructor controls to set the cadence; start, pause, or resume events; modify real field responses; introduce operator error; and record or manage scenarios.
Mobile Applications
I/Mobile extends computer-aided dispatch (I/CAD) and records management systems (I/LEADS) into the field, using wireless technology to put information - and controlled interaction - in the hand of every officer.
I/MobilePDA is designed for mobile personnel on foot. An entirely browser-based application, I/MobilePDA features include access to the latest incident information, database searches, and the ability to receive and send text messages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Intergraph provides a strong value proposition with a compelling vision aligned with your current and future challenges and needs. Working with industry leaders and government agencies, we are using a standards-based approach to integrate security information into a single view that can be shared among multiple agencies and jurisdictions. We have developed a geospatial architecture and security strategy that fundamentally allows you to use the right tool for the right job by employing open databases, applications, and Web services.
This architecture provides a platform to perform mission-critical business functions while at the same time providing the flexibility necessary to take advantage of integration opportunities and emerging capabilities.
