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Security Center is Brussels’ latest move towards becoming a Smart City

Brussels Safe City PR

Increased collaboration between agencies and pooling of resources is a common trend that is growing within international cities. Just last week, Bianca Debaets, the Secretary of State in Brussels, Belgium hosted a press conference to publicly launch a new regionally-encompassing video surveillance system which manages video from five municipalities.

Covering the entire Brussels West Police Zone, the system is built off of the Genetec Security Center unified platform, and its IP video surveillance system, OmnicastTM. A full demonstration of the video surveillance system was given to over 25 media representatives at the press conference. The demo included an in-depth look at the intuitive map-based interface, Plan Manager, which simplifies camera navigation within the city, and the Security Center Mobile app which enables live access to video as officers patrol the city in police cruisers.

What Brussels Is Saying about the Citywide Video Management System

According to Bianca Debaets, "This regional platform enables sharing of video surveillance images of the five towns by centralizing on a single screen, and is in the interest of the security of Brussels. I am thinking of a more coordinated response after a fire in a subway tunnel. Or a faster removal of vehicles after accidents, which prevents the formation of traffic jams."

Collaboration Yields Likely Returns on Investment

Brussels City Press Conference 2015

Other foreseeable benefits for Brussels? Greater collaboration between multiple city stakeholders, faster incident response and an estimated economy of scale of over $13.5 million in seven years.

The full solution which includes 140 cameras in the West Police district is managed from a single location by the BRIC (IT Centre for the Brussels Region) and operated by IRISnet. By 2016 Brussels plans to expand the surveillance system to include other police districts, Brussels fire departments, and Brussels Mobility (transportation agency). The Port of Brussels will join onto the shared system in 2018. It's all part of Brussels' Smart City Project which aims to implement more digital technology to facilitate public services. 

More Cities Doing the Same - Thoughts?

To learn more, read about how the City of Cincinnati Police Department and the region of Senart, France are also leveraging OmnicastTM IP video surveillance for greater collaboration and enhanced city security.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this new trend towards sharing of video surveillance systems and greater collaboration within cities.