by Arlene Marom

This article was written for the www.GlobalSources.com website, for its section on Sourcing Centers for Security and Safety Products

Israel’s Safety and Security Industry enjoys a well-deserved reputation for smart technology and high quality products. Surrounded by enemies and suffering embargoes, historical necessity forced Israel to develop a strong and innovative military industry, and to become a technological powerhouse in fields such as electronics and communications.

Israel’s labor pool, offering the world’s highest proportion of scientists and engineers, carries out world-class R&D at the myriad high tech companies populating Israel’s “Silicon Wadi”, creating exciting new products for the International Safety and Security marketplace. Leading companies in Israel’s Security market – whose managers often come from the highest ranks of the Israel Defense Forces - offer excellent proving grounds for new products. They are willing to test new technologies, but demand that new products meet their rigorous standards before approving them for use with their Israeli customers. In Israel’s close-knit, competitive security community, every manufacturer strives to become a world leader in its niche market.

Most products are manufactured in Israel by sophisticated sub-contracting companies that use the latest computerized and robotic techniques. Working with these sub-contractors enables even the smallest companies to produce large quantities at reasonable prices, without investing in expensive equipment. They are thus able to concentrate on R&D, keeping ahead of the competition by regularly designing new products and features to meet the world’s rapidly changing security needs.

Among the many areas in which Israel excels are: Access Control and Intruder Alarm Systems, Retail Security Systems, and CCTV. According to Rubin Kushmaro of Maximum Ltd., (www.maximum.co.il ) Israel’s Intrusion Alarm and Access Control products (including sophisticated wireless products) are highly valued for their reliability and durability, and often fill gaps in world markets for smart security products. A good example of this is Maximum’s smart new line that includes a full range of new and uniquely combined features: Double PIR and Microwave sensors, 360? anti-masking detection/protection with Active Infrared Beams, Outdoor/Indoor Infrared Detectors, Sensors that report movement or shifting of the product, while ignoring small animals and pets. Maximum is the only security product manufacturer in the world offering a 10-year warranty on all its products. They were also the first in the world to launch the anti-masking PIR detector, in 1987.

In the field of Retail Security, Israel is well known for its cutting-edge products. Among them are EAS (Electronic Article Security) systems, such as those offered by Tag Point (www.tag-point.com). According to Gidi Foxiniano, there is a large demand, world-wide, for Israeli-made products, which offer total solutions, and are smarter and easier to operate than competitors. Tag Point’s line of products - featuring a unique electro-magnetic system, including tags and detectors - is sold to customers in 40 countries around the world. The company targets end-users such as boutiques, CD stores, cosmetic shops, and electronic stores. Small businesses that could previously not afford the most effective security systems can now purchase Tag Point’s top quality systems at affordable prices, due to the savings in production costs, which are being passed on to their customers.

Israel is a recognized world leader in smart CCTV systems. According to David Binder of CipherActive Ltd. - specialists in acceleration, encryption and authentication - (www.cipheractive.com) demand focuses on remote surveillance and monitoring - driven by cost and ease of use. The US is the largest market for these systems, followed by the Far East, Europe and Canada. Israeli companies excel not only in the development of smart, user-friendly technologies, but also in the incorporation of smart features into old-style hardware, such as products that enable digital motion detection in old equipment.

Research companies such as Forrester predict that the CCTV industry potential will reach USD 25 Billion in the US and USD 50 Billion worldwide by 2005. According to a national retail security survey conducted by the University of Florida in conjunction with SensorMatic, losses break down as follows: Employee theft = 43%; Shoplifting = 34%; Vendor Fraud = 6%; Administrative Error = 17%. These results clearly indicate the importance of authentication, and show that effective security products must be able to prevent tampering (with both data and positioning of cameras) by employees, as well as to register any attempts at tampering.

The trend is moving toward services, particularly TCP/IP home, office and school protection over the Internet, telephones and mobile phones. For a monthly fee, parents will connect to a website and take control of the camera in order to watch their children at kindergarten. ATM machines will be monitored remotely, and will include a video conferencing option. The technology is here, ready to be embedded into existing systems around the world. Research is currently in progress that will enable crime prevention through facial recognition, so that a potential perpetrator can be detected, identified, and followed by a camera as he moves through a crowd.

CipherActive exports its encryption algorithms for TCP/IP, WAP transmissions and real-time acceleration, providing secure transmissions of IP data packages to its customers around the world. In addition, their technology has also been implemented through a number of OEM licensing agreements, with Israeli companies such as Nice Systems (www.nice.com) and Buzz VC (www.buzz-vc.com).

CipherActive’s technology serves as the basis for NiceVision, Nice’s CCTV security solution that enables fast response time, continuous digital recording and archiving of events across hundreds of cameras, centralized data storage, real-time monitoring capabilities, reliable identification, quick and easy retrieval, and cross-platform integration.

CipherActive’s Real-Time Video Encryption is embedded in Buzz-VC’s Smart Dome Camera, and their authentication system is used in Buzz-VC’s digital recording device.

According to Shahar Belkin of Ozvision Ltd. (www.ozvision.com), Israel is a world-leader in the field of digital video technology, supplying the global market with the most sophisticated, easy to use products available. The trend is toward smart homes, using the Internet to remotely control household appliances. ISPs will be offered a range of value added services for their subscribers. In addition to the sale of their own products, manufacturers will offer chips as OEM additions to a full range of products such as toys and appliances, thus adding video features while significantly expanding the global market.

Ozvision has developed smart video processing and transmission software for high-quality rapid video transmission over low bandwidth networks, plus a high performance, flexible and very low cost, video processing hardware core.

Video transmitting and digital recording units can be connected to telephones, cell phones, cellular Internet, or the Internet, and viewed from anywhere. The company has targeted the low-end of this vast market – the store owners, restaurant owners, gas station operators and schools, enabling them to enjoy remote, high-quality security management at a fraction of the price of high-end products.

The company has established a joint venture with an Israeli mobile phone service provider - to supply high speed, high quality video for the 2 and 2.5 generation platforms over standard cellular phones. This can be seen as an interim solution that will fill the gap while the world waits for 3G. This technology can be used on moving vehicles (such as Brinks trucks) and in outlying areas with no phone lines.

Ozvision’s worldwide customer base includes Orange, UK, which uses their video transmission technology for cell phones. The company’s video streaming systems can be found in Nokia and Motorola catalogs.

Arlene Marom, the Director of Tech River Ltd., is originally from Miami, Florida. She moved to Israel in 1976, and since 1995, has been working with Israeli high tech startups. She can be reached as follows: Tel: 972-3-6419107, Cell: 972-52-4527179, E-Mail: arlene@tech-river.com