IFEMA MADRID Increases Safety of 4.3 Million Yearly Visitors

The joint Qognify Cayuga-BriefCam solution allows the security crew to get a better overview in every situation, while at the same time reducing the number of people needed for monitoring or patrolling. The new system makes it easier to provide a higher level of security for exhibitors and also for the visitors of IFEMA MADRID.

The Institución Ferial de Madrid (IFEMA) Exhibition Center hosts over 100 events every year covering a wide variety of sectors of the economy. The modern facilities and the versatile capacity of its various spaces make this complex one of the most up-to-date, technologically best equipped exhibition venues in Europe, suitable for hosting not only trade shows and business meetings, but also large public events in the fields of sport, culture, and leisure.

The venue boasts an exhibition area that covers 200,000 square meters of covered pavilions, 12 halls, 2 convention centers, and 14,000 parking spaces. It is run by the Institución Ferial de Madrid (IFEMA MADRID), which has become a strategic engine for the region’s economic development, if not for Spain as a whole, over the years.

The financial effects of IFEMA’s activity on the city and region of Madrid is quite big. It works as one of the main drivers for business tourism which accounts for a revenue of more than € 5 billion a year, roughly 3,8 % o the region’s GDP, and creates around 40,000 direct and indirect jobs.

THE CHALLENGES OF SECURING EVENTS

Event locations such as the Madrid Exhibition Center set a high value on their physical security strategy. Visitors from all over the world trust to be in a safe and pleasant environment, which is secured by systems that are state-of-the-art and cover the entire site – indoor and outdoor areas, parking garages and logistics zones. The sheer size of the exhibition grounds, the large number of events in a wide variety of very different setups and the large number of people on site – visitors, exhibitors, service providers, suppliers – require a high-performance, holistic physical security system.

IFEMA MADRID was looking for a solution to replace an analog video system that had reached end of life. IFEMA MADRID expected the new solution to provide substantial improvements in processing video footage and helping them resolve incidents quickly. Therefore, some of the prerequisites in the new tender were a state-of-the-art technology, an open and integrated platform with easy integration of third party solutions such as video analytics, access control and LPR, and a powerful event search.

A HIGH-PERFORMING, HOLISTIC SECURITY SOLUTION

As a public body, IFEMA MADRID had to launch a public tender for the update of their video system. Qognify, together with Sicuralia System and BriefCam as the video analytics partner were able to present the best overall solution, complying with all the customer needs, thus winning the contract.

The powerful security functions of Cayuga as well as its openness to third party software integrations, especially with BriefCam video analytics, tipped the scales so that the Qognify software was chosen to be at the core of the new video-based security system. For faster and more efficient investigations, IFEMA MADRID decided to use a VMS technology that would allow for integration of third party systems, for analytics and traffic monitoring.

COMPLETELY INTEGRATING THE SECURITY ECOSYSTEM

In order to achieve an overall surveillance for the entire compound within one system, Cayuga is used as a video surveillance platform to not only expand and upgrade the technology but in order to offer a complete integration with IFEMA’s physical security ecosystem.

Many cameras – both fixed and PTZ models – have been installed so far to improve the security and safety on site and to allow for video analysis in critical areas, thus making the video system more efficient and actionable. From the very beginning, IFEMA made it clear that they only would accept a system that was in full compliance of their technical requirements in order to arrive at an advanced security infrastructure. Qognify Cayuga fit these requirements to the t. In this context and according to the security purposes, the VMS’s reliability was key to ensure the continuous protection of people and goods in coherence with the envisioned growth of the events that take place at the Madrid Exhibition Center.

At the heart of the installation sits a central control room that was designed from scratch. It is here where all information converges – allowing for immediate assessment and response to any developing situations.

The implementation of Cayuga at the IFEMA MADRID Exhibition Center has improved the performance of the video security system considerably. And the plan of IFEMA MADRID has delivered: Enhanced with the fully integrated BriefCam video analytics platform, the installed system has already proven to accelerate investigations and delivers significantly increased situational awareness. It has helped to produce a better resolution on the video stream combined with the ability to easily switch from live to recorded video for investigation. The joint Cayuga-BriefCam solution allows the security crew to get a better overview in every situation, while at the same time reducing the number of people needed for monitoring or patrolling. The new system makes it easier to provide a higher level of security for exhibitors and also for the visitors of IFEMA MADRID. The positive outcome of the video technology migration will have IFEMA MADRID also looking and analyzing possible upgrades in the future as part of their expansion plan for their Madrid venue.

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