IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

From predictive policing to smart surveillance systems, AI-powered technologies are driving the creation of safer cities by enabling proactive crime prevention and efficient emergency response.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology quickly revolutionizing the world, one sector at a time. Modern cities should quickly capitalize on this sophisticated technology to create safer spaces for residents and improve their quality of life. Here’s how AI is paving the way for safer cities worldwide.

India's apex electronics and software council has offered its expertise to help Gulf countries and companies to face the growing threat to security over the worldwide web.

"India has faced security threats from a long time and we have developed systems and software to successfully face attacks over the internet whether they are targeted at federal or state institutions or the private sector," DK Sareen Executive Director of India's Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), told Emirates 24|7.

In 2024, many of us are aware of how our data is being collected and used. The data brokering industry is currently sitting at an evaluation of around $252 billion, and that's only expected to double before the end of 2030.

This is, of course, a big issue that everyone who uses the internet has to face. Even just a few minutes of internet time can leave a digital footprint that brokers can harness, analyse, and then use to form a digital profile of a person, which can be sold and exploited. This is not only an issue from a morality standpoint, but in the current age of cyber criminality, it puts all of our data at risk of cyberattacks and identity theft.

Die US-Regierung hat unter dem Namen "Perfect Citizen" ein umfassendes Überwachungsprogramm gestartet, um kritische Infrastruktur-Systeme wie das Stromnetz oder die Flugsicherung vor Cyber-Attacken zu schützen. Der US-Rüstungskonzern Raytheon hat sich einen bis zu 100 Mio. Dollar schweren Vertrag für die Umsetzung gesichert, berichtet das Wall Street Journal unter Berufung auf Insider.

Das für die National Security Agency (NSA) entwickelte System soll mithilfe von Sensoren in Netzwerken vor ungewöhnlichen Cyber-Aktivitäten warnen. "Intrusion Prevention ist extrem wichtig bei kritischer Infrastruktur. Es ist wohl am besten, wenn eine Regierung in dieser Hinsicht Standards einführt und eine aktive Rolle spielt", meint Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor bei F-Secure, im Gespräch mit pressetext. Er bezweifelt, dass die Schutzmaßnahme gegen Cyber-Angriffe ein großes Risiko für die Privatsphäre darstellt.

Being the catalysts of growth, smart cities are founded on a technology-powered infrastructure. Digitisation in global economies has led the way to a transformative shift to smart security, universal convenience, and accelerated advancements.

By 2026, smart cities will be expected to generate an economic benefit of USD 20 trillion globally.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority in partnership with Core42, a G42 company specializing in sovereign cloud, AI infrastructure, and digital services has launched an advanced digital portal that enables Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority, building owners and maintenance companies to register, manage, and update fire and life safety standards in real-time. Launched as part of the Hassantuk program and developed by Core42, the advanced solution significantly enhances protection for residents of buildings across Abu Dhabi reducing property damage and improving emergency response time. The new solution also boosts overall operational efficiency for maintenance companies and building owners to monitor their work, ensuring higher safety standards throughout the Emirate.

In an increasingly digital world – securing online transactions and interactions has become a top priority. Traditional methods like passwords and PINs are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Enter biometric authentication, a revolutionary approach that leverages unique human traits such as fingerprints, facial structure, and voice patterns to verify identities. This technology is becoming the preferred method for safeguarding personal information, as it offers a higher level of security and convenience compared to conventional methods.

In fact, the digital landscape, including sectors like online gaming and banking, is already embracing this shift. The integration of secure authentication methods not only increases trust but also reduces the risk of fraudulent activities.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has made a new success by obtaining the highest ISO certification (ISO 27001:2005) in Information Security. This certification is ranked as the highest standard of quality Information Security and Protection all over the world. For the third time in a row, DEWA's Information Technology Division has passed processes of assessment, auditing and monitoring conducted by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Limited (LRQA).

The selection mechanism adopted by Lloyd's Register's delegated committee, offering ISO (27001:2500) depended on accurate criteria, which included reviewing employees' acquired skills, training courses and workshops provided to them, as well as a detailed review of the policies and mechanisms of applied procedures so as to know how far requirements of the standard levels of Information Security are implemented.

Dubai is all set to introduce the feature of facial recognition system on public transport to assure more security for the locals, the officials announced on Sunday.

"This technology has proven its effectiveness to identify suspicious and wanted people," said Obaid al-Hathboor, director of Dubai's Transport Security Department.

For about 15 years, the City of Hobart had been using CCTV to protect council property and keep the streets safe. But the system was ad-hoc, patchy, siloed, unreliable.

That changed some two years ago when Council decided to upgrade the city’s legacy security system and reinstate it as a single, citywide integrated network.

Speaking at Kickstart 11 this week, Kathryn Kerr, AusCERT’s manager for analysis and assessments, said that to date there was not much information available about the operation of the PCEHR but she believed patients would be able to nominate who would have access to that record, providing access to the record for themselves, health professionals, family members or carers.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Survey was conducted by Applied Research and included 150 respondents within Australia, from the total of 3457 organisations surveyed worldwide.

It found that Australian organisations had a lower awareness of the various critical infrastructure protection (CIP) plans that the government had set up and were less engaged in them than in the past.

Opposition human services spokesman Doug Cameron said on Monday night that Fairfax Media's report on the security of the myGov website was concerning.

He assessed the process of connecting systems of national significance to the internet as a recipe for disaster, and he was right: the internet is insecure. And yet we use it today for everything from social media, shopping and banking through to education and, in the near future, eHealth.

The last of these, edging towards becoming reality in Australia, simply should not proceed within the current system.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Robert McClelland said transitional arrangements were under way, and capital works to accommodate the national CERT had begun.

In the May budget, Mr McClelland allocated $6.2 million to bring together AusCERT and the government's internal capability, GovCERT, in a single entity to operate within Defence's new Cyber Security Operations Centre.

If the port were to implement Maritime Security (MARSEC) Level 2, where all vehicles entering the port are to be checked, the port — which stretches 110 kilometres and hosts some 2600 ships a year — would grind to a halt.

This standard would become necessary during a time of heightened national security.

AusCERT will be replaced by the federal government’s newly established CERT Australia, which will take over the critical role of frontline protection against cyber-threats.

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said CERT Australia "will now be the sole supplier of national CERT services to the community and the point of contact for international CERTs".