Profound Impact

I just completed the October cover story for SDM Magazine on “Security’s Business Intelligence Advantage.” While interviewing both suppliers and integrators, one common theme was the undeniable technology push prompted by 9/11. One technology, video analytics, saw heavy development after 9/11, with the promise of delivering such services such as terrorist facial recognition, abnormal behavior, and bomb detection. While it can be argued that it didn’t meet its full predicted potential yet in those areas, today that technology is driving business intelligence opportunities. It is finding a new niche to thrive in (among many others — I wouldn’t want to imply I was limiting the potential of video analytics!).

It was moving to watch the tributes — and there were so many around the nation.

Out here in Malibu, California, where I am located, Pepperdine University has a yearly tradition called the Waves of Flags display. Each year, 2,977 full-size flags honoring those who died on 9/11 are flown on the university’s lawn, stretching along the Pacific Coast Highway. The flags are the specific nationality of everyone who died that day, and, while mostly American, span the globe.

Pepperdine lost one of its own: alumnus Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., who perished on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Paying tribute to the heroism of Burnett, his fellow passengers, and all the innocent victims of 9/11, several events were held on Pepperdine's Malibu campus throughout the day Sunday.

“Though a decade has passed, we have not forgotten, nor will we ever forget. Our memorial remembrance bears witness to the fact that in honoring the dead, we ensure that the memory of their goodness and righteousness endures,” said Pepperdine President Andrew K. Benton in a speech that day.

The flags stop traffic up and down the highway, as the flags are such a visually arresting tribute to 9/11. Throughout the day, there is a steady stream of cars pulled over as people get out to take photos and pause a moment to reflect. I have to say it is especially moving to see small children running through the flags, laughing, while their parents remember. Innocence not yet lost.

Click on the image below to view a YouTube video of the tribute.