HID, Axis and Dtec- the big winners in the Stockholm Globe Arena!

TWO WINNERS. Johan Lembre from Axis and HID´s Neil Williams, received the award for the Best CCTV Product and for The Best Access Control Product in Stockholm.

The winners of this year's Detektor International Award were honoured at the security industry gala dinner at the Stockholm Globe Arena in conjunction with the opening day of the Sectech Exhibition and Conference.
   The ceremony was not only witnessed by the 300 security professionals at the dinner but also by the thousands of ice hockey fans at the same venue, who were all able to see the Award presentation on a huge video screen in the centre of the arena during an ongoing game in the Swedish ice hockey league.
   America was the country most represented amongst the nominated manufacturers, but two out of the three "Best Product" winners for 2005 were Europeans.

More than three hundred guests gathered at the security banquet at the Stockholm Globe Arena complex, where Lennart Alexandrie, the editor in chief of the security trade publication, Detektor International, presented the awards to the winners of each of the three main prize categories.
   In total, twelve security products were nominated in the categories of CCTV, Alarm and Access Control products.
      The Detektor International Award Prize was initiated to reward and encourage research and development within the field of technical security systems.

American dominance
American manufacturers were well represented with five nominated products. Two products were from South Korea and the Netherlands, Israel, Germany, Sweden and Great Britain were represented with one product each. With products nominated from three different continents and eight countries, there was a very global feel to this year's edition of the Detektor International Award ceremony.
 

Independent selection process 
2005 marks the 6th annual event for this prestigious award and the outcome was awaited with great interest. An important contributing factor to the prestige reputation of the Detektor International Award is the fact that the manufacturers cannot apply for the award. The selection is carried out exclusively by a jury comprising of nine independent professionals (all of them associated with the editorial board of Detektor International) from five different countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, UK and USA), who have followed the flow of newly launched products from all over the globe during the last 12 months.

The winners
The products were divided into three groups, Alarms, Camera surveillance (CCTV) and Access Control. The overall winner in each category received the award for "Best Product", the second received the "Highly Commended" distinction, and the shared third place was presented with the diploma for "Innovative Achievement". The 2005 outcome was as follows.

The Best
Alarm Products
Considering the high number of innovative new products the jury had a tough task to rank them.
   The Innovative Achievement in the Alarm Product category went to the control panels from the Easy series from Bosch Security Systems (Germany) and to Video IQ Lite, a solution for alarm verification via video, from GE Security (USA).
   The new Easy Series from Bosch is a highly innovative, yet economic and easy to install intruder detection solution for smaller businesses and homes. One major feature is that the user display is totally text free - instead it uses easy to understand symbols making it extremely simple to operate without complex text menus and button pressing.
  
Video IQ Lite is an 'On-Premise Video Alarm Verification solution' that embeds video technology into any GE Security alarm system. The concept incorporates an integrated PIR/Camera (PIRCAM) sensor and GE Security's unique Video IQ technology.  Together, these technologies verify human presence.
  
The Highly Commended Alarm Product prize went to the outdoor detector WatchOut from the Israeli manufacturer Rokonet Technologies.
      The WatchOUT outdoor detection device has unique selective event recognition capability that allows it to differentiate between false alarms and real intrusion events using two PIR channels and two MW channels- the first detector of its kind to do this.
  
The winner and receiver of the Best Alarm Products Award was Dtec Detector Technologies  from the UK for the ingenious systems solution FireVu, with smoke detection via video over IP networks.
   The FireVu IP has been developed to overcome many of the problems associated with smoke detection. FireVu's embedded algorithms analyse the video images provided by standard CCTV cameras. The system automatically identifies the particular motion pattern of smoke and alerts the system operator to its presence in the shortest time possible. This enables a fast response to a potential fire, saving valuable time even in voluminous areas or where a high airflow may be present.
     The jury's motivation was: "A real technology breakthrough in fire detection"

The Best
CCTV Products
The recent developments within camera surveillance are exciting with many new features and the very real potential of interacting with other security systems. The IP development in this field is one important factor, but the latest technical capabilities of these systems certainly open up new markets and applications. The jury, therefore, particularly scrutinised the nominations in this area.
     In the category for camera surveillance, or CCTV as it is commonly known, the Innovative Achievement awards went to Samsung Techwin for the night vision camera SHC730 and to CoVi from the USA for EVQ 1000, a unique high resolution multiview camera.
   The Samsung Techwin SHC-730 is a Wide Dynamic Range Day/Night camera that incorporates Super Vision III, a ground breaking advance in technology that produces high quality colour images when light levels are as low as 0.05 lux and continues to deliver superb quality images, in sens-up mode, down to an incredible 0.0004 lux.
   The CoVi EVQ1000 High Definition camera allows traditionally difficult surveillance applications to be addressed in a unique way providing an uncomplicated, effective and economic solution, coupled with a package of unique innovative integration technology.
  
This years receiver of the Highly Commended CCTV Product was the San Diego based Spectrum from the USA for SentryScope, a wide-angle surveillance camera which can substitute a number of cameras in a given area. SentryScope is a whole new approach to surveillance video allowing the user to capture a massively wide field of view and enabling quick and accurate visual activity surveillance over a huge area.  It is capable of capturing up to 21 million pixels per image.
  
The award for this year's Best CCTV Product went to Axis 225 FD, a fixed networked dome camera from the Swedish world market leader in network video, Axis Communications. The jury's motivation was: "Axis gives another brilliant example of state-of-the-art network camera technology for video surveillance applications".
     This Axis Power over Ethernet, day/night network camera is compact, cost effective and vandal proof.  It incorporates progressive scan facility, built in heater and fan and carries an IP66 weatherproof rating producing optimum performance even in harsh environmental conditions. Supported by the industry's largest base of video management software, the AXIS 225FD provides the perfect solution for securing prisons, schools, car park buildings, railway stations and other facilities over the local area network or across the Internet
  :  -  Axis is the only company that has been nominated for the Detektor International Award  every time, since the prize was launched five years ago. This is the first time that Axis has gone all the way by winning this prestigious trophy. Well done! - said Lennart Alexandrie when he handed over the glass sculpture to his fellow Swede , Johan Lembre, Vice President of Axis who expressed his appreciation over the valued international award.
    - We are very proud to receive the first prize for our new dome camera - he said and showed the specially designed glass sculpture by the world famous designer Bertil Vallien to not only the 300 plus guests present at the banquet, but also to some 6000 spectators at the premier league ice hockey game taking place simultaneously, who were viewing the Detektor International Award ceremony over a huge video monitor mounted in the centre of the ceiling over the sports arena.

The Best Access
Control Products
In the Access Control category, the Innovative Achievement Award went to Swinglane, a new security gate from the Dutch Boon Edam. This award was shared with Suprema from South Korea for the BioEntry, a series of advanced biometrics readers combining finger print reading with a smart card.
   The Boon Edam Swinglane combines the advantages of a swing door together with a long detection lane providing tailgating prevention and greater user comfort.
   The fascinating BioEntry series of core technology advanced biometrics access control readers, from Suprema, offer superb versatility with the options of BioEntry Smart for fingerprint and smart card combined for 1-to-1 ID, or BioEntry Pass for 1- to- many ID in under 1 second.
  
Guardian, a portal for detection of explosives from the American Syagen was presented with the Highly Commended Access Control Product award. The Guardian is an unintrusive, exceptionally effective and fast, head to toe explosives detection portal, capable of impressively high resolution screening for over 30 different types of explosives simultaneously using the latest MS analysis technology.
   The first prize, for the Best Access Control Product went to the R90, a proximity smart card reader from the American world leader in proximity cards and readers as well as in smart cards, the Assa Abloy Group company HID Corp.
   The new high secure R90 from HID is the first internationally approved self contained long range contactless smart card reader, it is capable of reading distances up to an impressive 18 inches, and has auto-tuning for more consistent reading ranges.
   Designed for access control installations incorporating parking and long range reading applications, the R90 combines a longer read range with enhanced security through encryption and mutual authentication standard with HID iCLASS 13.56 MHz contactless smart card products.
     The panel of judges motivated the choice simply by these words:
      "HID do not have to prove to the world that they are the market leader in contactless readers. But the R90 iCLASS 13.56 reader underlines that market position"
   -  It is an honour to receive this beautiful glass sculpture and the prestigious award, said Neil Williams, Director of Sales HID Europe, when he proudly received the first prize.
  

Copenhagen next time
Next time the Detektor International Awards will be presented on the 8 - 9 November 2006 in Copenhagen, in conjunction with the Danish edition of the Sectech Exhibition. This promises to be yet another spectacular event, judging by the attention and excitement enjoyed at the Stockholm Globe Arena this year.