Trends in access control and video surveillance

Asmag conducted research on the maturity and suitability of technologies being used in the security market. Based on feedback from 323 market players, we have identified technologies that are already making a big impact in video surveillance and access control, as well as those that are emerging

Source: asmag.com; E-mail: editorial@asmideast.com

Digital transformation in security continued to advance in 2022. Investment in the right technology can transform security from being merely reactive to proactive, open up new applications and help organizations become more optimized, efficient, and safe. The graph below shows the results of a survey in which more than three hundred people segmented the widespread use of new technologies in video surveillance and access control in relation to two criteria – technological maturity and suitability.

Ongoing and emerging trends

According to the results of the survey, edge storage (3), edge analytics (4), hybrid-cloud architecture (5), and 5G wireless communication (6) are mature and suitable for use, while digital twins (1) and augmented reality (2) are not so mature nor as suitable. 5G and edge computing are two technologies that go hand in hand, because 5G (voted as immature last year) increases speed, while edge computing reduces latency. Users want more processing on end devices, facilitated by edge analytics and storage advances. Digital twins and augmented reality still have room to grow but their potential for optimizing security applications appears quite promising.

Access control

Also mature and suitable for use are multimodal biometrics (3), mobile access control (4), and multifactor authentication (5), while the same cannot be said for cloud access control (2) and partly for unimodal biometrics (1). With smartphones always on hand and touchless authentication on the rise, mobile credentials have become increasingly mainstream, but readers feel cloud access control still has room to grow and mature. Multimodal and multifactor authentication trumped unimodal biometrics as users can benefit from better accuracy and speed.

Video surveillance

When it comes to video surveillance, low light color cameras (4), AI video search of people and vehicles (5), bi-cameras (thermal + visible light) (3) are mature and suitable for use, while 8K resolution (1) and cloud video surveillance (2) are not so mature or practical. Advances in low-light color technology lead to their popularity over bi-spectrum cameras. AI video search for people/vehicles was voted the most mature and suitable out of all AI features. Cloud surveillance adoption is still slow but should pick up as it matures; while 8K may face issues with price and distribution.

Access control in 2022

For businesses worldwide, the slow decrease in the intensity of the pandemic comes as a relief. Although there are several concerns like geopolitical tensions and supply chain constraints, 2022 has been a positive year, as customers restarted projects and purchases. COVID-19 wreaked havoc across businesses in 2020 and 2021. Even after the initial healthcare crisis eased, other issues in the form of supply chain constraints, chip shortage, and geopolitical tension threw the markets into disarray. “Dormakaba operated in a challenging business environment in the financial year 2021/22,” said Mirko Meier-Rentrop, Deputy VP for Group External Communications at dormakaba. “On the positive side, there was good demand in all regions, and the company closed the year with a good order intake and backlog. This was also reflected in the strong organic growth of 7.7 percent for the financial year 2021-22.”

 Persistent global volatility

Meier-Rentrop pointed out that several factors continued to affect the macroeconomic environment. There were still pandemic-related lockdowns in several countries, which had an impact, particularly in China, due to its zero-Covid strategy. The supply chain issues impacted high-margin electronic products where orders could not be processed due to the component shortage. On top of that, labor shortage hurt construction projects. The impacts of the war in Ukraine and the accelerated inflation were also reflected in GDP development. In the first and second quarters of the financial year 2021-22, GDP in the G20 countries recorded quarter-on-quarter growth of 1.9 and 1.3 percent, respectively, according to OECD. In the third quarter of the financial year 2021-22, the impact of geopolitical tensions became evident as GDP growth in major developed and emerging economies contracted to 0.7 percent.

Chip shortage and supply chain uncertainties

The whole world is suffering from microchip shortages. Hanchul Kim, CEO of Suprema, said they export products and services to more than 140 countries, and dealing with an unpredictable supply chain and an increased cost of raw materials has been challenging. Others agree, although adding that the new circumstances have also created new opportunities for businesses to explore. “The global chip shortage has been the headlining challenge for many industries, ours included, in 2022,” said Devin Love, Senior Director for Software Products at Allegion. “Opportunity is even more present, as companies and building owners reconfigure how their spaces are utilized to preserve the privacy provided when working at home, while also offering the space for face-to-face collaboration that people desire.”

End user challenges

Over the last decade, the physical and mobile access industry has drastically evolved, especially during the pandemic. Prabhuraj Patil, Commercial Director for Physical Access Control Solutions in South Asia at HID Global, pointed out that from a customer’s point of view, challenges ranged from vulnerabilities to adjusting to the post-pandemic world. Some of these critical market changes, triggers, and opportunities are reflected in HID’s recent survey. Security and convenience were the top two challenges cited by over 1,000 global respondents. In the same survey, 40 percent stated that protecting against security vulnerabilities was their biggest challenge while being able to issue and revoke ID credentials efficiently was selected by 37 percent.

Touchless continues despite pandemic ease

Interestingly the market appeared to pick up from the changes that the pandemic brought about. For instance, touchless solutions have become a norm over the last two years. But even as the pandemic abates, the market does not intend to return to the fingerprint and other older technologies. “All regions have recovered from the pandemic, so business is back on track,” Kim said. “During COVID-19, contactless solutions received a lot of attention in the access control market. As we shifted into the post-COVID era, this demand has increased even more as the irreplaceable advantages of contactless solutions have been made apparent. Contactless access control, including facial recognition, QR codes, barcodes, and mobile access technology, is more hygienic, convenient, accurate, and faster.”

Market awareness of new technologies

Kim said that as the market recovered, Suprema won several large projects that companies put on hold during COVID-19. They found that the demand for biometric and contactless solutions is increasing, especially facial recognition. “Adding to this, the demand for mobile access is growing in regions known to be fast at adopting new technology,” Kim added. “Suprema’s experience at adapting to rapidly changing markets and customer needs, along with our reputation for having the most advanced biometric and mobile access solutions on the market, combined to help us meet the increased demand.”

Significantly, customers are becoming more aware of best practices in access control and how to make the most of it. The market is also at the cusp of using mobile credential solutions. “The access control market is experiencing an awakening,” said Love. “Information about how spaces are being utilized and seamless access for all residents, tenants, and employees, is of increasing value.  Mobile credentials are an expectation, but the industry is only scratching the surface on the potential technology can deliver to the space.” Patil pointed out that while there have been several challenges, the attention has now gradually moved to adopt new technologies to help mitigate risk and create safer workplaces. “This, in turn, has created a great opportunity for players like us,” Patil said. “In light of this demand, we have had a good response from our local customers to key innovations such as HID mobile access, next generation HID Signo readers, HID Aero controllers, and Seos credential technology.”

Demographic change

At the same time, the average life expectancy is rising steadily, which means that institutions and private homes increasingly need barrier-free solutions that allow senior citizens to move easily from room to room. The world is becoming more urban, cities larger, and infrastructure more complex, requiring sophisticated solutions to support the seamless flow of people to where they want to go. Buildings and land should be both easily accessible and secure from a broad spectrum of threats. Meeting these combined needs efficiently and conveniently demands a comprehensive access solution.

Technology

Finally, technology influences practically every aspect of the access and security market, from digitization and distribution channels to networking products in the Internet of Things. Customers expect their experience of access solutions to integrate seamlessly with their personal digital environments. “These five trends influence everything that dormakaba does, from strategy through product development to marketing and sales,” Meier-Rentrop added. “In addition to these five megatrends, dormakaba expects to access and credentialing policies across all vertical end markets to be strengthened, emphasizing adaptability, versatility, and health.” The peculiar nature of the post-covid market has ensured that almost all verticals began to see strong growth in 2022. While companies restarted commercial projects that were stalled for almost two years, governments have begun to invest in infrastructure with a vision to improve economies and offer better facilities.

Commercial projects

For dormakaba, growth in the commercial sector’s construction and expansions in the industrial sector helped to regain market positions. With normalcy expected to return to the travel sector, other verticals like hospitality are also in a recovery trajectory. “Growth in Americas was driven by a recovery in the US commercial construction market, particularly in renovation and replacement, Latin America strength, market share gains, and price realization that roughly equaled the volume contribution,” said Meier-Rentrop added. “In Asia Pacific, all major markets contributed to growth. Continued good growth momentum came from the business with touchless access solutions. For example, sales for touchless solutions in Hong Kong increased by around 50 percent in 2021-22 versus the previous year. And there was strong double-digit growth in door hardware, entrance systems, lodging systems, and mechanical key systems.”

Housing and education

The current economic circumstances increase interest in access control solutions in the residential sector. Love pointed out that a lack of affordable housing is partly driving up residential demand, while government spending has allowed higher education and other institutional organizations to invest in infrastructure. “Overall, long-term drivers along with reconfiguration of spaces have sustained commercial demand, and electronic access control is gaining adoption beyond perimeter security,” Love added. Kim agreed that education is a sector where demand is increasing, particularly for mobile access solutions. “Most students use smartphones, and an emphasis on convenience is growing in today’s world,” Kim said. “Mobile access allows students to easily access school buildings on campus by authenticating their identity with their smartphones.”

Airports and critical infrastructure

According to Meier-Rentrop, growth in Europe & Africa could continue on the back of a strong order book and a solid project pipeline across major markets – such as dormakaba’s major contracts with Avinor to deliver self-boarding gates, one-way corridors, and related services for all Norwegian airports, and the REWE Group in Austria, the national supermarket chain. Kim added that oil and gas companies have also shown a strong interest in access control to enhance security on their sites. This may potentially be due to supply issues arising from situations in Russia.

David Thean, the General Manager of Asia at Gallagher Security, also added they are seeing an uptake in new construction projects compared to the past 3 years, albeit a little below what we have expected because of concerns about a possible global recession. “The government sector/vertical has seen the most demand and growth because of infrastructure upgrading and a push for urbanization,” Thean said. “Another vertical would be the hospitality sector, as these businesses are making a big comeback because borders are reopening and people across the world are starting to travel again for tourism.”

Video surveillance in 2022

After COVID-19 brought a hiatus of about 24 months, 2022 has been a rather busy year for video surveillance companies. Several projects that were put on hold due to healthcare concerns have restarted, while customers are eager to invest in new plans that would increase market demand. “From a company perspective, we have seen solid growth across the year, driven by growth in market demand,” said Ray Mauritsson, CEO of Axis Communications. “We believe the recovery the markets are experiencing since the pandemic is a key factor in this.”

But the pandemic hasn’t been the only reason. Technological developments that allow customers to improve security and convenience have also increased demand. “2022 continued a growth path within the video surveillance industry,” said Charles Pitman, Product Marketing Manager at Genetec. “Customers are more and more comfortable with having connected devices and systems within their environment and are increasingly looking at ways to simplify system maintenance while having access to their security systems on the go.”

Component shortage challenge

Supply chain disruptions and unavailability of components were one of the biggest challenges that businesses across the board faced in 2022. Although the chip shortage appears to ease now, the industry continues to reel under this pressure. “Like many other organizations, we are still challenged by the lingering effects of the pandemic combined with global component shortages and supply chain disruptions,” Mauritsson said. “While this situation is not unique to Axis, it has presented us with issues that have caused us to adapt. However, this has given us the opportunity to rethink and revisit how we go about the design and manufacture of our products, and as we see the markets recover and improvements in supply chains, we are now seeing steady and continuous improvement.”

Recovering from lockdowns

Another problem was that the recovery from the pandemic had not been the same across markets. In many parts of the world, governments have remained slow to restart unrestricted travel and operations. Countries like China continue to remain cautious, prompting businesses to take things slow. “General market instability, supply chain issues, and labor shortages have all put infrastructure investment in business functions like security in a precarious position,” Pitman said. “Meanwhile, the slower-than-expected return to the office slowed down major projects and new construction.”

Benefits of AI and analytics

More customers are now aware of the power of analytics and how leveraging it could help their businesses. The reduced cost, improved efficiency, and better protection that analytics offers have a better appeal than the reactive security devices of the previous era. “Over the last year, we have seen new projects of all kinds, private and public, requiring surveillance by design,” Pitman said. “Many businesses have been turning to video analytics solutions to strengthen site security, gain new insights, and solve unique problems. Greater adoption of video analytics has also been propelled by technologies such as machine learning and deep learning, which offer the potential to automate a lot of data processing and workflows while delivering actionable information to operators.” Pitman added that video analytics applications have continued to mature in ways that make them easier and more economical to deploy at scale. This was made possible by vendors who focus on hardware resource efficiency and offer more granular controls for running analytics at certain intervals or schedules instead of continuously.

Inherent demand

Mauritsson added that increased demand is a natural progression as customers become more aware of security concerns and how to deal with them. More and more customers are attracted to advanced surveillance solutions that can offer better protection and peace of mind. “Firstly, there has been an underlying growth in our market for many years now, mainly driven by an increased interest and need for security technology across all sectors,” Mauritsson said. “This growth in demand was not really affected by the pandemic, even though lockdowns and supply-chain issues had some short-term impact on Axis sales. Secondly, there is a demand for more and more innovative technology. We have always prided ourselves on being at the forefront of technological innovation, and with that comes an increased demand for our products.”

Major verticals driving demand

For many reasons, it isn’t easy to point out verticals that are growing faster than others at the moment. New and old projects are picking up across sectors for many companies. “It’s difficult to pin any one vertical that has experienced the most demand and growth as so much of what we offer can be broadly applied to many sectors,” Mauritsson said. “We’re seeing growth across all major segments.” Pitman said that Genetec is also seeing growth across many sectors, particularly in the transport, public (government), enterprise–engineering, and industrial sectors. A report from KPMG suggests that 2022 will be a year of opportunity as the world learns from the past and works to rebuild with more resilience, sustainability, and equity. But since COVID-19 has significantly influenced people’s lives, consumer behavior would also have seen a dramatic change. “It will also be a year of uncertainty as new challenges emerge and social expectations continue to shift as we learn to live in a world with (not after) COVID,” KPMG noted in its report. “And infrastructure leaders have an opportunity to fundamentally change our collective path on the climate, social, and governance agenda.”