Volkswagen Group Security and IAV win security industry Oscar

Taking first place, Volkswagen and IAV left the adjudicating experts in no doubt with a tethered drone for protecting buildings. This is yet another triumph for Group Security: four years ago, it came out top in the “Outstanding Security Partnership” category – at the time in liaison with the VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga soccer club, for an innovative and all-embracing security concept.

Michael Schmidt, head of Group Security: “Winning the most coveted prize in Germany’s security industry for the second time makes us proud. It is confirmation of the phenomenal work group and plant security staff do every day at our various sites. At the same time, it’s an incentive for us to do even better – also in the challenging times of the coronavirus pandemic, which is placing even heavier demands on group and plant security than it would normally do anyway.”

Equally as proud of this achievement are those responsible at engineering partner IAV, Volkswagen being its main shareholder. Pedro Isaac, head of the System Calibration & Software Products department: “We are delighted to get this important award. Together with Volkswagen Group Security, we have, quite literally, launched an innovative approach to property security which makes full use of its strengths, especially in areas with no security personnel of their own. The drone gives immediate insight into the local situation, providing flexibility and speed in responding to possible incidents.”

Volkswagen’s security division had applied to OSPA with three top topics: a property security toolbox for efficient building and plant security, an online security training program for executives and the tethered drone for securing buildings. All three topics made it among the top three finalists. “That alone is an amazing success”, Schmidt says. Particularly in the face of contenders as prominent as Deutsche Telekom, German Aerospace Center and Commerzbank.

The tethered drone came out on top. Heralded an intelligent innovation in the security world, it is reminiscent of the 1980s “Blue Thunder” blockbuster. “State-of-the-art surveillance technology hooked underneath the helicopter back then is now cutting-edge camera technology that sits below the drone. The drone is tomorrow’s instrument for fast and efficient intrusion alarm tracking”, says Andreas Fietze, head of Group Property Protection.

This is why Volkswagen has teamed up with IAV to develop the “tethered drone” concept. Group Security believes this is a real innovation: for the first time, a building in Germany is now protected with the help of a tethered drone. This means permanent power supply, permanent data line and minimized operating risk. “This award spells tremendous success for our product and for us as a team”, says Andreas Fietze, highlighting all the benefits: using the tethered drone saves the need for stationary camera systems. Being installed on the roof, the security technology is also inaccessible to outsiders, making it completely tamper-proof.

Employing over 8,000 members of staff, IAV is one of the world’s leading engineering partners to the automotive industry. The company has been developing innovative concepts and technologies for future vehicles for over 35 years, generating sales in excess of € 1 billion in 2019. Its customers include all the world’s prominent car manufacturers and component suppliers. Besides vehicle and powertrain development, IAV entered the segment of electric mobility and autonomous driving at an early stage and is now one of the leading engineering service providers in these fields. In addition to its development centers in Berlin, Gifhorn and Chemnitz/Stollberg, IAV also has further operations in Munich, Sindelfingen and Ingolstadt as well as in Europe, Asia and North and South America.