Video analytics has gotten a lot of attention in the last several years, from both business and academia. It has enabled the automation of activities that were previously the sole domain of humans, thanks to tremendous breakthroughs in deep learning.
Recent advancements in video analytics have been game-changing, with applications ranging from people counting at events to automatic license plate identification, as well as other more well-known scenarios like facial recognition and smart parking. With these developments, the global video analytics market is poised to grow by $11.14 billion during 2020-2024 progressing at a CAGR of 27% during the forecast period.
This growth can especially be seen in the Middle East being a fast-paced region with high-security demands. It is home to some of the world’s most affluent and advanced economies, all of which strive to flourish by adopting cutting-edge technologies and addressing regional issues. Throughout the Middle East, a growing emphasis is being placed on broad-scale digital transformation across a variety of industries.
Research infers that the video analytics market in the Middle East and Africa is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.40% during the forecast period 2021-2028. The main factor driving the video analytics market expansion in the Middle East is the increasing demand for sophisticated video surveillance systems that can be utilized to estimate important trends and deduce patterns.
An increase in demand is also being driven by a growing focus on public safety and the use of video analytics in criminal investigations. The region’s advanced video analytics solutions are projected to expand in response to the region’s fast digital transformation and growth potential with advanced solutions based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
“As the metropolitan cities in the region, such as in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, develop large-scale infrastructure projects, including new retail attractions, buildings, transport networks, shopping centres and other projects, the adoption of security and surveillance solutions is expected to rise. As these organizations monitor larger sites with multiple cameras and entrances, such facilities can benefit from video analytics solutions that offer central management capabilities to provide them with relevant and insightful information,” said Ephrem Tesfai, Sales Engineering Manager, Middle East, Turkey and Africa.
Due to the growing application of intrusion detection, license plate recognition, crowd management, and congestion monitoring, industries such as transportation, retail, and healthcare are seeing substantial growth in the adoption of video analytics on a regional level. Video analytics systems are increasingly being employed in the retail and hotel sectors of the area for purposes other than security. Estimate average footfall, gender bifurcation, display effectiveness, and shelf space attractiveness, for example. It is also being used to gain insights into consumer behaviour.
It is evident that video analytics makes surveillance system more efficient, decreases the stress on security and management staff, and helps capture the full value of security video. “The organizations that adopt the latest state of the art video analytics technologies will be equipped with deeper insights enabling them to automate processes and make better decisions. Ultimately, this will give businesses a competitive advantage and improve quality of life for citizens,” said Haider Muhammad, Community Manager Middle East, Turkey & Africa Community Sales (EMEA), Milestone Systems.
With users expecting more accurate alerts based on object detection rather than traditional motion detection, hardware providers developing more powerful, cost-effective chipsets for deployment, and more start-ups making their niche solutions visible in the market, analytics is becoming an increasingly important component of any video surveillance deployment. Hence, it is important to consider various factors while choosing the right video analytics solution.
“The video analytics solutions you look at will vary in efficiency and reliability. Choosing a vendor and solution that you can trust is crucial. Organizations should check certifications to vet a solution’s quality. Additionally, choosing the solution that best fits your existing video surveillance system and other security infrastructure is key. With a growing physical security market, the number of video analytics solutions is increasing exponentially. Having a video system that offers built-in video analytics, as well as the ability to connect to third-party video analytics solutions is the best of both worlds,” said Tesfai.
He further asks organisations to choose video analytics solutions that also offer central management capabilities provides them with more relevant and insightful information. This allows operators to work more efficiently at identifying threats and recurring issues, and better understand what’s happening in their environment.
The need for surveillance and video analytics systems has surged as a result of COVID-19. Many governments, shops, and organizations wanted surveillance technologies that could monitor occupancy levels to maintain compliance with social distancing requirements while reopening their facilities and protecting the safety of the public. The Middle East will remain a key market for video analytics in the future. An increase in demand for actionable insights from video data has led to implementation by end-users in both the public and private sectors in recent years.
“Advanced technologies such as AI, machine learning with video analytics, rise in requirement of business intelligence and insights, and increase in need of edge-based analytics to recognize and profile applications are the major factors expected to provide opportunities for the market growth in this segment. Major players are also migrating to the cloud and by having cloud managed services we will see that the technology is easy to adapt and deployed and much more commercially competitive. More sophisticated AI/ML algorithms will be launched hence offering technology that will solve real-world challenges and these technologies will drive the ME industry forward with more growth opportunists created,” said Muhammad.
Video analytics software is useful in assisting us with our daily chores. This technology can assist a wide range of industries, especially as the complexity of potential applications has increased in recent years. Video analytics enables operations that are both more effective and less tedious for humans and less expensive for businesses, from smart cities to security controls in hospitals and airports to people tracking in retail and shopping centres. There is also huge potential for video analytics in the Middle East market which companies can take a piece of.
