Geospatial IT Sharing Will Drive 2012 Olympics Security
Intergraph Corporation's Robert H. Scott III describes how 3D satellite imagery transmitted by unmanned drones; video and video analytics; mobile asset tracking using GPS; electronic credentialing; sensor-based intrusion detection; and real-time, predictive analysis can be shared between security agencies by using geospatial IT
Securing the 2012 Olympic Games in London represents an enormous challenge, even for London's seasoned Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). As with all large-scale events – particularly international gatherings, which are prime targets for terrorism – the need for real-time, actionable intelligence and coordinated emergency response drives a massive, multi-agency security effort already in its early planning stages.
Leading the charge is the Olympic Security Directorate, developed and organized by the MPS to represent various agencies and disciplines. The Directorate will coordinate all security efforts surrounding the 60-day event, which will host 202 countries and attract thousands of athletes, coaches, officials, media representatives, and spectators.
In light of the event's magnitude and the level of sophistication seen in recent terrorist attacks, the urgency of a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary security plan cannot be overstated. An effective plan will not only glean best practices from successful implementations at recent events, but also call on greater cooperation among the formerly separate resources of military and intelligence agencies and national and local governments – all built on a foundation of the latest geospatial information management technology.
Uniting Through Geospatial Technology
The security interests of military and civilian agencies have converged in recent years, which is increasingly apparent when preparing for large-scale events such as the Olympics. These common interests compel individuals and organizations to replace the former "need to know" mentality with a "need to share" attitude regarding intelligence data and other resources. This collaboration lays the groundwork for the development of integrated security solutions that combine the disparate products and processes used by military, intelligence, and civilian agencies.
The integration of these disparate and geographically dispersed resources is increasingly possible as geospatially enabled technologies enter the mainstream. At its best, geospatial technology effectively serves as a common framework for collaboration between organizations and individuals, regardless of their spoken languages. When integrated at the core database level, geospatial data serves as the foundation for expanded collaboration at the application level.
Such cooperation, specifically between military and civilian agencies, was demonstrated at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy – the largest city ever to host the Winter Games. The Italian Geographic Military Institute (known as IGM), with the support of Intergraph technology, implemented a geospatially enabled venue solution to help the Torino Organization Committee for the Olympics (TOROC) successfully prevent and handle security incidents at its multiple venues.
For example, one urgent need was to secure the Olympic ice-skating arena, which accommodated more than 12,000 spectators with various levels of badge-access authorization. Using real-time geospatial technology, IGM created a model of the arena based on a geospatial database that integrated many different source files and normalized them in a unified schema model pinpointing every seat location, entrance, and exit. This approach provided security staff with a common, detailed operating picture of the entire venue. With real-time access to geospatial information about the venue, security staff could be dispatched to the appropriate location within seconds.
Leveraging Existing Systems
As geospatial data requirements become more voluminous and complex, integration of numerous elements into a common, user-defined operating picture is increasingly important. Frequently, this means that new geospatially enabled security systems and devices must be deployed with legacy systems already in place at military and civilian agencies.
There are numerous potential benefits of leveraging existing systems, and many such possibilities exist for the 2012 Olympics security plan. For example, 3D satellite imagery transmitted by unmanned drones over London's Heathrow Airport could be filtered, analyzed, and integrated with an existing consequence management system already at work for the MPS.
The larger the security implementation, the more beneficial it will be to quickly incorporate new security software and devices into existing systems without extensive redesign. For this reason, the trend toward commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications is on the upswing, offering substantial savings in hardware, software, and labor. For instance, the addition of a COTS consequence management system will not result in the need to replace or overhaul an effective computer-aided dispatch system being used by local emergency responders, or a high-resolution video feed already monitoring activity at an historic site or other soft target.
Enabling this trend toward out-of-the-box interoperability is the advent of international, open-standard technologies such as those approved by the International Organization for Standardization (widely known as ISO) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Open standards establish a common language that allows instant geospatial collaboration among nations and individual agencies. In short, software built on open standard technology ensures interoperability with other systems built on those standards.
The power of out-of-the-box interoperability was demonstrated at the XV Pan American Games 2007, the largest sporting event ever to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With a mandate to protect more than 5,600 athletes and 1.3 million spectators, Intergraph worked with the National Public Security Secretariat (SENASP), an agency of the Ministry of Justice, to develop a multi-agency security plan for the Games, the Rio de Janeiro Airport, and the surrounding areas.
To ensure a coordinated security effort, SENASP tasked nine separate public safety agencies – police (military, non-military, and highway), FBI, municipality guard, fire brigade, national security, transportation, and traffic engineering – to work together to secure the Games. Using geospatial technology built on international open standards, Intergraph developed a comprehensive security and incident management solution that seamlessly integrated incident data from legacy systems into a common operating picture. The data funneled in from every agency involved, was compiled and analyzed in real-time, and was made available at 15 command-and-control points: one main center, one backup center, eight local centers, and five mobile centers. All police cars were equipped with laptops and handheld units, fully integrated with the command-and-control system. Sisgraph, a representative of Intergraph in Latin America and the Caribbean, delivered the software system and provided training and support for each of the command-and-control points. Intergraph video analysis software was also used to analyze and enhance video images whenever necessary.
The effective integration among security agencies at the national, state, and municipal levels was deemed a success, and security was widely praised at the major news agencies. As a bonus to citizens, the enhanced security resulted in a measured decrease in all crime indicators in Rio de Janeiro during that time.
A Comprehensive Solution for 2012
Clearly, a comprehensive security plan for the high-profile London's 2012 Olympics will incorporate the elements discussed, integrating the latest geospatial technology with legacy systems in place at the MPS and other agencies enlisted by the Olympic Security Directorate. The ideal solution will leverage industry-standard, COTS applications that will work together and with existing systems for real-time data collection, fusion, and analysis – all integrated seamlessly in a common, user-defined operating picture.
Functional capabilities for such a system will include video and video analytics; mobile asset tracking using global position systems (GPS); access control and electronic credentialing for all event participants and spectators; sensor-based intrusion detection; and real-time, intelligence-based predictive analysis. Each of these dimensions must include shared, secure data access by all agencies involved, through central command and control, as well as offsite backup units and handheld devices.
While some question the cost-effectiveness of an all-encompassing security plan, most security experts agree that such a plan is needed to prevent repeats of past catastrophes such as the 1972 Munich massacre and the 1996 Atlanta bombing. With the latest technology and a spirit of cooperation, the 2012 Olympics' security implementation can be the most successful one the world has seen.
Robert H. Scott III, Security Solutions Industry Manager, Intergraph Corporation
