Leo Levit was recently appointed as Chair of the ONVIF Steering Committee. In this interview we will learn a little more about his plans as a leader of this initiative and his considerations about the security industry.
By ONVIF
ONVIF: You have had a long career in the security industry, how will your experience and your current position at Axis lend yourself to this new position?
Leo Levit: I have been in the technology industry for over 25 years, both in engineering and in leadership and business management positions. My current position as Director of Systems Integration at Axis Communications speaks directly to interoperability and technology development issues. Prior to this role, I was a global product manager of analytics solutions for Axis. I look forward to leveraging my technical background, leadership experience, and practical knowledge of interoperability in the role of president.
ONVIF: Can you provide an update on WHAT's new in ONVIF, what new projects/standards you are working on, etc.?
Leo Levit: Last year, ONVIF was fortunate to make great strides as an organization with new initiatives that will continue into the future. Last summer, ONVIF adopted the use of the open source development platform GitHub, an important step in optimizing our specification development processes and shortening the response time for specification proposals. GitHub is also important because it allows developers from other companies and industries, in addition to ONVIF member companies, to provide information for the development of ONVIF specifications, contributions that will offer diverse perspectives and experiences.
We also introduced the Release Candidate for Profile M, which opens up the possibility of extracting data that is not only valuable for security and protection applications, but can also be used for other industry purposes. I look forward to further exploring this with ONVIF, as this will help device manufacturers and customers, as well as system owners, explore approaches that focus on vertical interoperability, allowing for more multipurpose use of devices on the network.
ONVIF: What are some of the challenges facing ONVIF and how can they be solved under your presidency?
Leo Levit: Outside of global economic trends and the prospects of the pandemic, ONVIF will continue to be tasked with meeting the needs of an industry undergoing transformative change. The use of AI-based algorithms depends on the sensor's ability to provide data and metadata, and that requires interoperability beyond the camera. It is important that we encourage and enable the adoption and growth of different applications within AI and within security devices. This will open up great potential for surveillance system devices and clients to provide ever-increasing value beyond simple surveillance.
ONVIF: What are some of the key issues in the physical security industry and how will ONVIF respond to them?
Leo Levit: The traditional safety landscape is changing in recent months with the expansion of scope to include the addition of customized solutions to meet pandemic safety measures, including crowd management, social distancing, and mask detection technologies. This is an example of the expansion of security expectations. I believe that we, as an industry, can meet these expectations by strengthening the role of interoperability today and advocating for the use of open platforms that can help organizations create a more holistic, intelligent and sustainable system, flexible and based on the changing needs of users.
As the economy continues to change and move, the old "build once and keep forever" mentality becomes even more impractical, and interoperability is key to the ever-increasing role of security and safety technology as a tool for managing broader operational and business processes.
ONVIF: What are your plans for ONVIF during your tenure? What are some of the most important things/tasks you will focus on?
Leo Levit: My approach to ONVIF is quite simple: it's how ONVIF can remain relevant to its members and to the security industry as a whole. The goal is to continue to drive ONVIF in a direction that responds to the needs of the industry, as indicated by our members, who ultimately decide on ONVIF's specific profiles and initiatives. For now, we will continue to focus on how the ONVIF strategy will continue to adapt to the changing landscape of the security industry and global demands.
