OCTOPUS Systems, the integrated command and control platform, announces success in mitigating the COVID-19 outbreak in Bnei Brak, Israel. The city of 220,000 people was the hardest-hit coronavirus hotspot in Israel, with 2,100 infections. To combat the virus and flatten the curve, Bnei Brak employed a joint task force made up of various government branches, calling on OCTOPUS to consolidate their security systems and databases.
As the most religious city in Israel with a population that is predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jewish, Bnei Brak posed several challenges to officials working to control the city’s outbreak. Bnei Brak’s population density is three times that of Manhattan’s, and its residents don’t use radio, television, or internet. In other parts of Israel, using cellular data was essential to battling the spread of COVID-19. In this town, there was no such option. A cutting-edge and adaptable command and control system was needed to mitigate the crisis, and OCTOPUS stepped in.
OCTOPUS’ command and control system is a platform for orchestrating many different systems, ranging from cybersecurity and physical security to fraud protection and more. It integrates all these systems and databases seamlessly and consolidates them into one brain. This enables better integration and cross-referencing, allowing users to make well-informed decisions when managing a crisis.
The task force responsible for controlling the spread of the virus in Bnei Brak included the Israeli Army Commando Division, Home Front Defence Regiment, Israeli Police Central Sector, and the Bnei Brak Municipal Police. The OCTOPUS system was deployed within 24 hours, enabling immediate situational awareness and assisting the task force in flattening the curve within two weeks, leading to a release of the city from lockdown.
OCTOPUS integrated 500 cameras throughout the city, as well as drones and observation balloons, and provided the task force with analytics from various data sources, such as City CRM, Geographical Information Systems, and multiple government databases. The platform created a centralized management system for hundreds of responders, 16,500 cases of food delivery each day, and 1,600 coordinated missions a day.
OCTOPUS also tracked the health status of confirmed and unconfirmed cases of COVID-19, security personnel, and frontline workers via a customized mobile app. The app provided two-way communications between users and the resources they need. The consolidated system was configured to the particular needs of Bnei Brak and deployed within 24 hours of engagement, quickly allowing for real-time decision-making capabilities. Octopus is negotiating with various other cities and governments, including outside of Israel, for implementation as the pandemic continues.
“OCTOPUS Systems was quick to respond to the city’s leadership needs and deployed its solution in the city’s new coronavirus crisis command and control center in a very fast time frame,” says Avraham Rubinstein, Mayor of the City of Bnei Brak. “The OCTOPUS solution was an imperative factor to the city’s successful battle with the spread of the coronavirus.”
“The situation we faced in Bnei Brak was very unusual, as we needed to implement high tech solutions in a city whose population rejects technology,” says Tal Bar Or, CEO of OCTOPUS Systems. “It was a thrill to be employed by the city of Bnei Brak, and to be able to facilitate the successful implementation of the government’s strategy in such an acute crisis and delicate circumstance.
