Analytics pump up Super Bowl security game plan
Connecting state and local government leaders
With the Haystax Public Safety Cloud, New York and New Jersey security officials can analyze real-time data to assess potential threats to America's biggest sports spectacle.
New York City and New Jersey security officials have stepped up security around the metropolitan area as Super Bowl XLVIII approaches. With a new data gathering, presentation and analysis system debuting at the event, security personnel will be able to review a variety of data to assess potential threats to America’s biggest sports spectacle.
The Haystax Public Safety Cloud brings in massive amounts of raw data from camera feeds, RFID and GPS systems, social media and radiological monitors, according to a report on CNET. It then uses a series of algorithms to emphasize and display the most important data points.
The system will serve as a valuable tool to every member of the security hierarchy, from the head incident commander down to the thousands of individual security officials. Each data point it picks up will be sent to the appropriate personnel.
In order to create the Public Safety Cloud, Haystax fused its analytics technologies with secure collaboration and cloud computing technologies. On top of that, the Haystax Digital Sandbox mobile applications integrate video and social media feeds while Haystax FlexPoint infrastructure provides secure situational awareness in the cloud.
The system is built on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), which provides resizable capacity in the cloud and is designed to make Web-scale computing easier for developers.
The Haystax Public Safety Cloud gives security teams the ability to respond to incidents, gather relevant information around threats, protect critical infrastructure and manage high-profile special events, according to the company.
Besides the heavy security that will be present at the game itself in New Jersey, the New York Police Department has installed 200 temporary security cameras on “Super Bowl Boulevard” in midtown Manhattan. This 13-block street fair is expected to draw heavy crowds in the days leading up to the game.
The NYPD is also using analytical software that programs cameras to pick up suspicious activity, such as a bag being left in one place for an extended period of time, the Associated Press reported.
Sunday’s Super Bowl is unique in that its events are taking place in two different states. With such a wide geographic scope involved, the use of technology will be more important than ever in keeping the public safe at the country’s most popular sporting event.