SURVANT · Project

Smart Video Search System That Finds People and Events Across Thousands of Security Cameras

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Imagine you run security for an airport or a city centre and you have footage from hundreds of cameras recording 24/7. Right now, if something happens, someone has to sit and watch hours of video manually — like finding a needle in a haystack. SURVANT built a search engine for surveillance video: you type what you're looking for (a person, a car, an event) and it pulls up the matching clips from across all your cameras instantly. It also bakes in privacy safeguards so personal data is handled responsibly.

By the numbers

EUR 1,994,797

EU contribution for market uptake of video surveillance analytics system

consortium partners across 4 countries

67%

industry partners in the consortium

TRL9

target technology readiness level — operational environment

total project deliverables produced

The business problem

What needed solving

Security teams, police investigators, and infrastructure operators are drowning in surveillance video. The number of cameras keeps growing, resolution keeps improving to HD and beyond, and retention periods keep extending — but searching through all that footage is still largely a manual, time-consuming process. When an incident occurs, investigators may need to review days of footage from dozens of cameras across incompatible storage systems, wasting critical hours.

The solution

What was built

SURVANT built a unified video investigation assistant that connects to different video storage systems, automatically extracts analytics (objects, people, events), enriches the data using reasoning and inference, and provides a single search interface with advanced visualization. The system includes built-in privacy safeguards for personal data handling. It produced 5 deliverables including a public project website.

Audience

Who needs this

National and local police forces investigating crimes using CCTV footageAirport and port authorities managing security across large facilitiesPrivate security companies monitoring corporate or retail propertiesCity governments operating urban surveillance networksCritical infrastructure operators (energy plants, water facilities) needing perimeter security

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Public Safety & Law Enforcement

enterprise

Target: Police forces, national security agencies, border control authorities

If you are a law enforcement agency dealing with the overwhelming task of manually reviewing surveillance footage after an incident — this project developed a unified video search system that collects footage from different camera systems, extracts analytics automatically, and lets investigators query across all archives using an intuitive interface. The system was built by a 6-partner consortium across 4 countries and targets operational readiness (TRL9).

Critical Infrastructure Protection

enterprise

Target: Operators of airports, ports, power plants, transport hubs

If you are a critical infrastructure operator struggling to monitor and search through HD footage from a growing number of cameras — this project developed a video analytics platform that reasons over extracted data and offers advanced visualization of search results. Built as a follow-up to the FP7 ADVISE research project, it was designed specifically for operational deployment in environments like yours.

Private Security Services

mid-size

Target: Commercial security firms managing surveillance for corporate campuses, retail chains, event venues

If you are a private security company managing video feeds for multiple clients and spending too many hours on manual footage review — this project developed an intelligent search assistant that works across different video storage systems and camera types. With EUR 1,994,797 in EU funding and a consortium where 67% of partners are from industry, it was built with real-world commercial deployment in mind.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would a system like this cost to deploy?

The project received EUR 1,994,797 in EU funding to bring an existing research prototype to market readiness. Commercial pricing is not disclosed in the project data. Contact the coordinator Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA for licensing and deployment cost details.

Can this scale to handle hundreds or thousands of cameras?

The system was specifically designed to collect videos from heterogeneous repositories and handle growing volumes of HD footage from increasing numbers of cameras. The objective explicitly addresses the explosion in surveillance footage volume. Based on available project data, the system targets operational-scale deployment (TRL9).

Who owns the intellectual property and how is it licensed?

The project was led by Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA, a major Italian IT company, with 6 partners across 4 countries. IP is likely shared among consortium members under EU grant rules. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated with the coordinator directly.

How does this handle data protection and privacy regulations?

Ethical management of personal data collected from surveillance videos is integrated directly into the system design — not bolted on as an afterthought. The project's EuroSciVoc classifications include both 'data protection' and 'human rights', indicating privacy was a core design concern.

How mature is this technology — is it ready for deployment?

SURVANT is a follow-up of the FP7 research project ADVISE, which already produced a working prototype that impressed end-users at demonstration workshops. SURVANT's explicit goal was to achieve TRL9 — a system proven in an operational environment. The Fast Track to Innovation funding scheme confirms the commercial deployment intent.

Can this integrate with our existing camera and storage infrastructure?

The system was designed to work with heterogeneous video repositories — meaning it connects to different camera brands and storage systems rather than requiring a single vendor setup. The unified search interface sits on top of existing infrastructure.

Is there ongoing support and development?

The project ended in December 2018. The coordinator Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA is a large established IT company (not an SME), which suggests capacity for continued product support. Based on available project data, post-project commercialisation status would need to be confirmed directly.

Consortium

Who built it

The SURVANT consortium is strongly industry-oriented: 4 out of 6 partners (67%) come from industry, with only 1 research organisation and no universities. This is a clear signal that the project was about commercialisation, not academic research. The coordinator, Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA, is one of Italy's largest IT companies — a serious player with the capacity to bring products to market and provide long-term support. The consortium spans 4 countries (Italy, Greece, Spain, Ireland), giving it a footprint across Southern and Western Europe. With 1 SME in the mix, the consortium balances large-company stability with smaller-company agility.

ENGINEERING - INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA SPACoordinator · IT
ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXISparticipant · EL
PNO DIGITAL SRLparticipant · IT
ENGIWEB SECURITY SRLthirdparty · IT
AYUNTAMIENTO DE MADRIDparticipant · ES
COLLINS AEROSPACE IRELAND, LIMITEDparticipant · IE

How to reach the team

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SPA is a major Italian IT company — reach their innovation or product division through eng.it

Order a report on this consortium See ENGINEERING - INGEGNERIA INFORMATICA SPA profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to know if SURVANT's video search technology fits your security operations? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the development team and provide a tailored assessment of deployment feasibility for your infrastructure.

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