The State of Security Industry Standards: An Update From ONVIF

By Leo Levit, ONVIF on March 24, 2025 |
technical background

On Feb. 11, 2025, the Security Industry Association (SIA) Standards Committee hosted a webinar on the state of security industry standards. In a discussion moderated by SIA Standards Committee Chair Peter Boriskin (chief technology officer at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions, experts from SIA and fellow industry-related standards development organizations (SDOs) highlighted their most recent developments. Here, Leo Levit, chair of the ONVIF steering committee, shares the latest updates on the organization’s standards initiatives.

ONVIF, founded in 2008, works to provide and promote standardized interfaces for effective interoperability of IP-based physical security products and services. Each ONVIF-conformant product must support at least one of the following ONVIF profiles:

ONVIF activities are driven by committees and working groups, and members at the contributing level and above are encouraged to participate. Some of the major initiatives ONVIF’s working groups and committees are focused on include:

  • Cloud connectivity: Development of an ONVIF cloud profile that will allow interoperability of security devices and video management software in the cloud. The profile work is focused on creating test suites to address key use cases around streaming video to the cloud, as well as recording to cloud storage. 
  • IP Audio: Defining an ONVIF profile for the interfaces and communications mechanisms for configuring and integrating audio speakers and other intercom devices. 
  • Video authenticity: A method to add a digital key to video footage to be able to verify its authenticity based on the specific camera that recorded the video. This key allows video management clients, video players, etc., to verify that the video data originated directly from the specific camera and has not been tampered with.
  • Semantic Metadata Working Group: Exploring an ONVIF standard for semantic analytics metadata, which will provide a common framework for richly describing the context in which objects of interest appear in captured video across applications and devices. This work will enable the physical security industry to easily share and make use of data generated by analytics applications running on Internet of Things devices, such as cameras, for security and analytical purposes.

Read more highlights from the State of Industry Standards webinar and watch the video here.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).