Milestone Community (MIPS): Pursuing the potential of an open platform

Milestone is more than just a successful international security platform or the purveyor of sophisticated security solutions – it’s the backbone of a large segment of the security industry and the embodiment of cooperation and collaboration. That’s what Holly Payne took away with her after attending just one of the global Milestone Community events.

Taking place between May 8-10, 2017 at Dubai’s Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, the Milestone integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) EMEA 2017 marked the first occasion hosting regional MIPS, comprising a program tailored to suit the EMEA market.

After three days in the vibrant city of Dubai, some 440 delegates, from 47 countries and 36 exhibiting partners participated in the event, which saw the community bustling with energy.

Basing its ethos on “Together we make the world see the future” the event aimed to do exactly that, bringing together like-minded industry professionals who value the exchange of information in order to create the most practical and efficient video management solutions. Not just an opportunity to listen to keynote speakers such as Kirsten Højland, Vice President, Corporate Marketing Milestone Systems discuss the Milestone Product Roadmap, the event highlighted the impact of staying ahead in the competitive security industry.

Kenneth Hune Petersen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Milestone Systems, said: “The whole purpose with MIPS is for Milestone to communicate to the industry on setting directions. What do we see coming? Which direction do we believe that we should move in? The other thing is for people to talk and network. We feel very fortunate for Milestone that we get to work with so many skilled and diverse partners.

“The Middle East is a super important region for us. It is a high growth area so, of course, it is important for us to show our clients and our partners that we believe in the EMEA region. We are building up a stronger foothold in the APAC region as well.”

More than 30 Milestone Solution Partners showcased their integrations in the Milestone Community Innovation Lab during the course of the event, providing Security Buyer Magazine and Security News Desk the opportunity to explore how Milestone are protecting and preserving people and property – and how the industry could look a few years from now.

Speaking exclusively to Security News Desk and Security Buyer Magazine about the future of the security industry and the use of AI (Artificial intelligence), Bjørn Skou Eilertsen, Chief Technology Officer, Milestone, said: “Milestone takes a position on artificial intelligence that is a stepping stone towards augmented reality. I still believe that we will need the individual. We need the human mind to be the leading principal. The artificial intelligence should be used to augment the individual, not replace the individual.”

Amongst the long list of notable highlights was the attendance of Merete Juhl, Danish Ambassador to the UAE and Qatar, who gave delegates a captivating insight into the priorities and needs of the region she represents. The new Director for Milestone in the Middle East and Africa, Christian Ringler meanwhile provided a fascinating overview of the rapidly increasing volume of business activities in the region.

Diamond sponsors of the event Allied Telesis and Fujits attended, as well as representatives from iCetana, Seagate, IBM, Advancis and G2K.

Also among the exceptional number of high profile companies to grace the event were Bosch, Ipsotek and Intransa, with each demonstrating their respective capabilities, as well as discussing their predictions on the future of the security industry.

Winner of the Milestone Kick-start Contest of the Year, Parking Spotter, received ample praise. Its solution identifies available and occupied parking spots from CCTV cameras, which due to the company’s integration with Milestone, has access to an unspeakable number of camera models with which the company can comply.

Extracting the stream of information from Milestone Systems, Parking Spotter is able to analyse data using its own solution, the end result being that parking owners receive a full availability map of their parking spaces, and can obtain business intelligence information, such as the occupancy of their parking.

Pivot3, a converged solution provider of storage infrastructure for CCTV, demonstrated at the event their multiple differentiators – performance, resiliency, scalability and manageability. Indeed, Pivot3 is able to protect against frame rate loss and ingest large amounts of video data, while producing a product that is infinitely scalable – a 100 camera requirement on day one can be accommodated, benefiting from the seamless exercise of adding another node.

You don’t have to be an IT professional to manage Pivot3’s systems, which are based on a non-complex, easy management structure.

Another security company constituting part of the Milestone portfolio, which drew a notable line of spectators to their modest booth, was specialist sensing technology company Optex. Originating in Japan and operating for more than three decades, notoriety surrounding the company’s innovations came at the event from its highly sophisticated infrared technologies – from passive infrared to active infrared.

Each laser is capable of creating a perimeter unseen by the human eye, making it an ideal solution for exhibitions and art galleries where miscreants are unable to formulate a plan ahead of time around how they might avoid apprehension.

Combined with Optex’s invisible fibre optic fence mounted system, the company’s technology has the capability to look at object, size, movement and time within a particular area to create a reliable detection, without the propensity for false alarms.

Besides the stand-up comedy, bedazzling dancers adorned in stunning gowns, and the indulgent cuisine bestowed on delegates as part of the Milestone Systems awards ceremony, MIPS represents more than just a celebration. It is the calendar event that brings likeminded people together to pursue the potential of an open platform, whilst exploring what that means for the future of the industry. For milestone Systems the past several months have undoubtedly been filled with meticulous planning in preparation for their momentous, breakout Community event in the EMEA – but no one can say it hasn’t all been worth it.

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