Hitachi Data Systems launches public safety and smart city solutions

Hitachi Data Systems Corporation has announced Hitachi Visualization, public safety solutions that foster safer, smarter, more efficient communities through connected intelligence. Launched at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference (IACP) in Orlando, Hitachi Visualization helps law enforcement and emergency management personnel prevent and collaboratively address public safety situations. The solutions do this by integrating the capture, management and analysis of real-time information. They are part of the broad commitment by Hitachi Data Systems to Social Innovation in order to make society safer, sustainable, healthier and more comfortable by leveraging the Internet of Things, big data analytics, and IT infrastructure technologies.

Hitachi Visualization are the first comprehensive, intelligent, end-to-end solutions built specifically for public safety. They consist of edge capture devices known as Hitachi Visualization Platform (HVP) and an integrated map-based software platform called Hitachi Visualization Suite (HVS), which enables correlation of disparate data and video systems geospatially. They are the flexible, searchable and visual solutions that government agencies, law enforcement and emergency management have been waiting for to enable campus and citywide data and video analytics and surveillance with public and private entity integration.

Hitachi Visualization Platform video-capture and gateway devices allow organisations to intelligently collect, share and analyse information with built-in wireless networked data and video feeds. These devices are also seamlessly integrated with private video feeds and are widely used in public safety systems, such as license plate recognition, gunshot detection, and computer-aided dispatch technologies.

The award-winning, cloud-based Hitachi Visualization Suite aggregates this data into a common, live operating picture, providing full situational awareness to support incident management and investigations. Critical information is presented intuitively by placing an integrated view of multiple video feeds, sensor data, and information from third-party public safety systems onto a map of the area. HVS analytics software also taps into information from public sources such as social media and online news, using algorithms to search for correlations and anomalies. HVS workflow software then allows organisations to use this insight to rapidly and remotely respond by, for example, repositioning cameras, sending customised alerts to appropriate personnel, and storing data for evidence.

The aggregated situational view from Hitachi Visualization can be accessed from any networked device, giving personnel the information they need at any time or place. Video streams are automatically optimised for available bandwidth and can be shared with hundreds of simultaneous users.

“Some of the greatest barriers to public safety are the lack of access to comprehensive live information, poor ability to extract insights from that information, and limited tools to collaboratively respond faster than a situation develops. Hitachi Visualization eliminates these barriers, giving law enforcement and emergency personnel the capacity to more effectively and efficiently make the world a safer place,” said Mark Jules, vice president, public safety and data visualisation, Hitachi Data Systems. “Innovative organisations like the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the New York Waterway are already using these solutions to protect their citizens and critical public assets.”

Central to the newly created Hitachi Data Systems public safety business, these solutions integrate HDS big data analytics and IT systems with technologies from 2 recently acquired public safety companies, Pantascene and Avrio RMS Group.