3 drivers for innovation in the security domain

Solutions for a safer world: that is the mission we as a sector stand for. The last few weeks have painfully made it clear that safety is not a given. Threats and risks are constantly in motion. The war in Ukraine also increases the risk of disinformation, cyber-attacks, and social unrest. More than ever, we need well-considered but fast innovations to maintain peace, provide transparency, and ensure our safety. How is the innovativeness of the security domain? What are the drivers for innovation in the security domain and what is the role of data in this? 

The security domain has to deal with permanent risk assessment, compliance requirements, privacy legislation and the ethical question. This means that the willingness to innovate and change is generally less. Criminals do not have these restrictions and innovate as they please. The security sector follows closely, but usually one step behind. This is consistent with the image we have: 73 percent of the Dutch people believe that criminals are more innovative than the government (Capgemini). In other sectors, it is easier to apply trial-and-error methods. You can experimentally test new innovations on the market. Unlike in the security sector, where it is a balancing act. Yes, you want to innovate and that makes ‘trials’ part of it, but you don’t want the ‘errors’ to fall outside of the calculated risks.

’73 percent of the Dutch people believe that criminals are more innovative than the government’

Fact or Myth? “Innovation is always disruptive”

A big misconception is that innovation always has to be disruptive. The opposite is true: valuable innovation is created by optimizing a product, process, or service based on customer needs, optimization, or efficiency. According to research by PwC, there is also a clear need: 93 percent of CEOs see innovation as the main driving force behind future success. Innovation in the security sector Drones, facial recognition, intelligent camera systems, apps to report incidents. It is a selection of the applications we have seen in the security sector in recent years. In addition, 3D simulations are increasingly being used to prepare and train emergency services. Digitalization has brought about a large wave of new innovations. But the biggest wave is yet to come, namely data. We are generating more and more data, actively and reactively, and as a result, we have more ammunition within reach to predict deviant behavior. The result? That we do not follow criminals ‘step by step’, but in real-time, with the help of artificial intelligence.”

“93 percent of CEOs see innovation as the main driving force behind future success.

Drivers for innovation

Driver 1: Use of data

With the advent of 5G, more and more physical sensors are being used to predict deviant behavior in the physical environment. Some examples:

1. Police forces that act proactively instead of reactively. Think of better predicting home burglaries, allowing for more effective use of prevention and security measures. Several municipalities, including the city of Utrecht, are already experimenting with this.
2. Security regions that can better predict deployments. For example, by linking physical sensors with weather forecasts and demographic data to extract trends.
3. In the private sector, data is used to better predict visitor flows. The company VISOR is an example of this, a start-up created from the JADS community*.

The potential of data is enormous. It is now important to fully and carefully utilize this potential. Carefully, so that it fits with risk assessment, compliance requirements, and ethical questions. To use data for innovation, a data-driven approach is necessary. According to research, this is not running optimally yet: Despite the growing need to work more with data, 79 percent of Dutch businesses, according to research by KPMG, have difficulty implementing a data-driven operation.

While 29 percent of data-driven organizations have seen relevant investments during the corona period increase, it appears that among organizations that are not or hardly data-driven, investments decrease or freeze. The KPMG research concludes that 66 percent of these latter organizations have made less or the same amount of investments in data and analytics. No research has yet been done on how this applies to the security domain. Ask yourself: what investments are being made to stimulate a data-driven approach? Is this on the low side? Then this will undoubtedly affect the innovation power in your organization.

’79 percent of Dutch businesses have difficulty implementing a data-driven operation’

Driver 2: A structured innovation process.

According to research by Harvard, 73% to 90% of new product innovation fail. This has a lot to do with the lack of a good innovation process. This applies to both business and government.

Such an innovation process has 4 phases:

• Idea generation: generating new insights by testing and collecting feedback from customers;
• Selection: making choices about which ideas to pursue;
• Implementation: turning the selected ideas into new products, services, or processes;
• Evaluation: assessing the impact and success of the implemented ideas. Having a structured innovation process can increase the chances of success and reduce the risk of failure.”

“Research from PwC indicates that 60% of product development or innovation budget goes towards ideation and selection process, while 40% goes towards development and marketing. According to this research, many companies struggle with the first two phases: ideation and selection. This is because technology or the desire of the internal organization is often taken as the starting point. According to Capgemini, internal politics, resistance to change, and discontinuity dependence on a few drivers, are often heard as obstacles. Testing with customers often takes too long and in the end, these projects fall short. But by then, a lot of money has already been spent!

In organizations with a mature innovation process, better starting points are already seen based on clear choices in the portfolio. Additionally, customer needs are the starting point. These companies, according to PwC, spend significantly less on the first two phases of the innovation process and have more power for development and marketing, resulting in more successful innovations. How mature is the innovation process in your company?

Driver 3: Data-driven experimentation in co-creation

“Fail fast, learn faster” is based on the principle that we learn from our mistakes. With what we learn and ideas that are given space, ultimately what works remains. Experimentation! Test with prototypes or an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), and early on gather insights on improvements. Such a product does not have to be perfect. Perfection is expensive, and you don’t have guarantees that your target audience will find it perfect either. Therefore, it’s a waste to make high investments right away. The alternative? Dare to test! Does data analysis show a high demand for a product that you don’t have yet? Then determine what is best: buy, outsource, or develop yourself. Put it on the shelf and see what happens

Test prototypes of a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and get early insights into the areas for improvement. Such a product does not need to be perfect. Perfection is expensive and there are no guarantees that your target group will also find it perfect. Therefore, it is a waste to make large investments right away.

The alternative? Dare to test! Does data analysis show that there is a lot of demand for a product that you do not yet have? Then determine what is best: buy, outsource or develop it yourself. Put it on the shelf and see what happens. Is there a need for optimization of service? Then set up a research project with a small group of customers, analyze the results and make adjustments. It is important not to start working randomly, but to work based on hypotheses. Gather the data needed to evaluate the experiment on this basis. It is also possible to apply these methods within the security domain. Try to keep the customer or user group small and work together on an experimental environment where risks are manageable.

Best Practice: LEGO

When experimenting with innovation, it is important to do this in co-creation with customers or other stakeholders. Research shows that B2B customers appreciate working on innovation. Then it is not about an interview but really contributing to the solution. An example is LEGO, which lets people make their own products. Specifically for the security industry, the cooperation between security guards with municipalities or the police that involve citizens in gathering information. Co-creation is not new, sometimes organizations are not aware of it or simply do not know how to tackle co-creation in the right way.

Daniel Ariely, a top psychologist, discovered that when people put effort into making something, they become attached to it. The so-called IKEA-effect. If you invest in the solution, you will embrace it. So if your customer puts effort and time into producing his own product, he will soon be inclined to purchase and retain it.

Innovating in the security industry is more important than ever given the new threat landscape in the world. Digitalization and data open up new opportunities for this. The great thing is that today you can easily test whether something works or not within a structured innovation process. This way, you only invest more in innovation if your experiments show good results.

According to research by Harvard, 73% to 90% of new product innovation fails.