"Innovation in security is critical for governments and corporations alike and it is only through the progressive and global search for new ideas that we are better able to respond to the threats posed by terrorists, criminals and natural disasters" said the Global Security Challenge Team.

The award was presented for iOmniscient's newest Video Analytics innovation; IQ-HAWK. The technology combines iOmniscient's Detection and Identification capabilities within a single camera.

Traditional video surveillance systems utilise PTZ cameras which attempt to zoom in on people or vehicles involved in an incident. They can only ever zoom in on one person at a time. These cameras are easy to defeat by seasoned criminals and terrorists because they can be distracted with decoys, according to iOmniscient.

The IQ-HAWK system performs accurate "detections" using the full range of iOmniscient's IQ Series products. When an event occurs, the system digitally zooms in automatically and can use iOmniscient's Identification software to identify the person or vehicle. While the digital zoom is performed on one target the system continues to detect on the original view. IQ-HAWK can detect large numbers of different events simultaneously. IQ-HAWK overcomes the shortcoming of PTZ cameras which can easily be defeated as they can only zoom in on one event at a time, states the company.

"The IQ Hawk system has a unique patent pending method for optimizing bandwidth and storage usage, which allows the system to operate very effectively", says Ivy Li, managing director for iOmniscient. "There can be a 200 times potential savings in storage and bandwidth for a 5 mega-pixel camera. This means that if your storage previously cost USD 200, with IQ-Hawk it would only cost only USD 1."

"We are tremendously excited to be part of the Global Security Challenge 2009. Our inclusion in the final round of the Global Security Challenge represents iOmniscient drive to innovate the security industry with our unique Video Analytics applications" said Dr Rustom Kanga, CEO of iOmniscient.

The GSC is a central hub for security innovators, start-ups and investors and hosts competitions and events around the globe. The GSC aims to empower entrepreneurs in the security technology space and runs the leading business plan competitions to find the most promising security and defense start-ups in the world. iOmniscient would compete with finalists from all 6 regions of the world for the title of Best Security SME in the GSC Security Summit 2009 on the 13th November in the London Business School, London, UK.