A new project outlined as "one of the most advanced city-wide intelligent security systems ever conceived" is underway in the windy city, Chicago, IL. The Operation is known as "Virtual Shield" which will be one of the world's largest video security deployments upon completion. Think you know Big Brother? Just wait.
Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, employs a unified fiber network throughout much of the downtown area. This network links thousands of surveillance cameras, both new and old, to a system that not only stores images, but monitors the video as well.
Although, Chicago's current implementation of "Virtual Shield" is only the first phase, which was aided by IBM, city experts, and network engineers. The goal was to create a surveillance system that would capture, monitor, and index all video fed into the system. The network is expanding.
In Phase 2, Chicago plans to give operation Virtual Shield the technology to automatically recognize license plates and perform intelligent search capabilities.
Chicago has already laid plans to use the system for tracking traffic congestion, but one has to question whether operation Virtual Shield's intelligent trending projections could be used to route any one of the over 3 million people who commute Chicago, daily.
Imagine a world where a surveillance system will be able to spot any vehicle, at any location, and determine the driver, his address, and his location, at any time.
...questions are raised as Chicago works with California-based, Firetide, who is known for its wireless, covert video cameras.
Firetide will also be aiding Chicago in adding hundreds of additional cameras throughout the city, all of which implement wireless technology. This raises many concerns about the security of these cameras. Who will have access to view these wireless devices? How secure is the encryption on these cameras?
In addition, Chicago will be using IBM's own Omnicast software, touted as "the most advanced IP-based video surveillance recording software in the industry."
This software has the ability to adapt to virtually any camera, whether it be fixed, mobile, IP-based, analog, a camera from a sister agency, or a camera from a private enterprise, all while recording, analyzing every video stream, processing any and every licence plate, charting, learning, and mapping, anywhere at any time, all the time. (more)
Time for a Windy City sing-a-long...
Who's peekin' out from under a stairway
Calling a name that's lighter than air
Who's bending down to give me a rainbow
Everyone knows it's Windy
Who's tripping down the streets of the city
Smilin' at everybody she sees
Who's reachin' out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it's Windy
And Windy has stor-my eyes
That flash at the sound of lies
And Windy has wings to fly
Above the clouds (above the clouds)
Above the clouds (above the clouds)
(Windy, by Ruthann Friedman)
