For the security industry, 2017 was a good year, but not a great year. With political changes coming and greater interest in border control, perimeter security and analytic technologies, we have seen an increase in enquiries from both federal, and state law enforcement agencies and municipalities.
The political security landscape
The series of unexpected, natural and self-inflicted disasters that swept across the United States over the last few months have also created a greater interest in security and life safety. As a result, we have seen more security projects developing in cities and institutions such as education in the U.S. Another impact on our global business is the fluctuation of currency due to economic uncertainties.There is a high demand for security technologies that interoperate with other systems, to form integrated solutions
Some countries have benefitted; however, most have the burden of reduced purchase power. Consequently, integrators have had to work harder to ensure projects abroad are fulfilled and completed with great sensitivity to any shifting economics of the security solutions.
Interoperability of systems
In 2018, we continue to see a high demand for security technologies that interoperate with other systems, to form one integrated solution. More federal funding will be allocated for domestic security projects, particularly for cities and critical infrastructure.
Commercial and government applications will continue to seek proactive monitoring technologies embedded with artificial intelligence capabilities, and the companies that can provide these analytic technologies will be rewarded. Threat detection analytics, such as aggression detection and facial recognition, will see greater deployment across all verticals. Manufacturers will have to keep investing in their R&D to keep up with the greater demand for state-of-the-art – yet reliable – applied technology.
In 2017, we responded to strong interest in audio-monitoring. More industry leaders spoke about the importance of audio in the overall security solution at seminars and conferences. Customers who haven’t thought of audio in the past are now seeking audio solutions for both traditional and non-traditional applications.