Thousands of cameras to keep an eye on Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Falcon Eye covers the mainland and the Capital's suburbs

Abu Dhabi has launched a surveillance system called Falcon Eye that covers the mainland and the Capital's suburbs through thousands of cameras.
The surveillance system receives a live feed from cameras distributed across the city and displays the data in an integral system that provides smart warnings and allows quick access to events and incidents.
The area covers the city of Abu Dhabi, including the Abu Dhabi International Airport, the main islands, and Bani Yas and Musaffah.
The system will help control roads by monitoring traffic violations such as the use of hard shoulders, illegal parking, misuse of roads and dealing with traffic accidents.
It will also monitor significant behaviours in the city such as public hygiene and human assemblies in non-dedicated areas.
The system will mainly be beneficial to Abu Dhabi entities concerned with traffic monitoring, and will facilitate the management of intersections to increase their efficiency and limit traffic during peak hours. The Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Centre (ADMCC) was established to manage and regulate monitoring and control devices in the Emirate. It also supervises the expansion of the geographic cover of the Falcon Eye project, and seeks to increase the number of partners using the system.
The ADMCC works on developing monitoring standards and data analysis to prevent crimes and maintain security and order in the Emirate.
The centre seeks to build partnerships with local and federal establishments to support and enrich databases to reinforce the link between data centres and external data, and their analysis using big data technologies with the aim of issuing detailed reports and statistics to be used to regulate existing services and plan the development of future services.
Major-General Mohammed Khalfan Al Romaithi, Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police and ADMCC Board Chairman said the system was "part of the vision of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to pursue its efforts to build a confident and safe society, and a sustainable and globally open and competitive economy."
He added that its launch is based on "the guidance of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the follow-up of Shaikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, which stress the need to leverage technology and visual surveillance to increase security and safety, and facilitate the management of cities."
ADMCC director-general Saeed Saif Al Neyadi said: "The continuous development the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is witnessing requires us to stay up to date with the latest global technologies and developments in this field."
haseeb@khaleejtimes.com