Factors Fueling the Growth of Smart Surveillance in India A majority of operations including traffic management and law enforcement will either be completely automated or will observe process-based automation, for instance, instantly alerting the closest PCR on observing violence or aggression to avoid escalation

At present, the Indian Video Surveillance Industry is growing with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 27.16 per cent – or more than four times India's GDP growth in 2017. In the wake of unprecedented digitization, this robust growth rate is only expected to grow further and make the market vertical one of the brightest spots of the burgeoning economy.

Here are some of the factors that are fueling the growth of surveillance systems in India:

1. Redundancy: Though surveillance systems have long been an integral part of India's progressive business ecosystem, a majority of the deployed devices – or about 68 per cent – are analogue-based surveillance systems. However, as these devices have very limited functionality, they are being increasingly replaced by modern IP-based surveillance systems. IP-based surveillance systems are able to cater to multiple use cases including identification of violence, vandalism, theft, fire hazard, breach into restricted areas, etc. and can trigger an alert with the concerned department without any human intervention. This has made surveillance systems more than "dumb devices' monitoring a specific area and paved the way for greater pan-industry adoption.

2. Wide-angle Views: 180o and 360o cameras are able to transfer higher definition video with a broader area of coverage. While completely eliminating blind spots and transferring greater functionality to businesses, such offerings simultaneously decrease the number of cameras needed to monitor a scene. These cameras develop a "ball of video' which can be broken down to create multiple virtual cameras that are conventionally used by security personnel. Since there virtually no blind spots, such offerings also enable businesses to conduct retrospective tracking of events even using recorded video feeds.

3. Machine Learning and Business Intelligence: Video analytics, when coupled with Machine Learning (a subset of Artificial Intelligence), has the ability to provide deeper insights into work dynamics that often go overlooked otherwise. For instance, video analytics can identify the level of customer satisfaction by analyzing the facial expressions of customers and use Machine Learning to establish relevant correlations. These correlations can be tested by the system over the due course of time. The system can also analyze whether digital signage can influence the buying behaviour and purchasing decision or what kind of musical arrangement adds to the overall ambience of a business. It can additionally help in demand and footfall forecasting, thereby enabling businesses to intuitively prepare themselves well in advance. This can greatly enhance the overall value that businesses extract from their individual operational units.

4. Cloud Technology: The advent of cloud computing has enabled businesses to enjoy the most sophisticated IT infrastructure, software, and applications on "pay as you go' basis. This eliminates the infrastructure deployment, technology acquisition, and maintenance-related costs while at the same time equipping businesses with more flexibility in terms of upscaling and downscaling of operations. This is a more cost-effective approach as it does not involve large-scale capital lock-in in infrastructural spends and one of the primary growth drivers.

5. Smart Cities: The ambitious Smart Cities Mission is going to unveil 100 smart cities in India which will witness smarter management of infrastructure and resources in order to derive greater value from the existing system. One of the most fundamental elements of these upcoming smart cities will be surveillance systems that will be installed across various touchpoints. Every smart city will, moreover, have video walls that will continuously monitor the city-wide operations and ensure that they are conducted smoothly. A majority of these operations – including traffic management and law enforcement – will either be completely automated or will observe process-based automation, for instance, instantly alerting the closest PCR on observing violence or aggression to avoid escalation. These projects and the required sophistication in their management are further driving the demand for surveillance systems in India.

The ongoing technological adoption has embarked India on a new journey where transformations and disruptions are the only constants across the market. Soon, as digitization further increases and covers the rural geographies under its ambit, it is only going to act as a catalyst within India's collective growth story. Thankfully, it will lead to lower economic leakages vis-à-vis resources and their distribution as well as management of people and processes, something that will ultimately lead to more efficient and digitally-enabled society – with surveillance systems at the very heart of it.