Three Safety and Security test-bed projects have been completed under the Singapore Government’s Safety and Security Industry Programme (SSIP) 2020. The SSIP 2020 is led by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and done in collaboration with JTC. The announcement was made by NEC Corporation and NEC Asia Pacific.
The SSIP 2020 is a whole-of-government initiative that aims to facilitate public-private partnerships to tap on the Research & Development (R&D) capabilities of the global and local industry to serve Singapore’s safety and security needs and address Singapore’s safety and security needs through data-sharing and insights derived from analytics.
The three trials were conducted over a period of 12 months from September 2016, in and near Jurong Island. They involved early detection of suspicious behaviour, off-site security clearance of authorised personnel and on-the-spot enrolment for first-time visitor access to controlled areas.
In the first trial, NEC provided and tested a system that utilised its NeoFace® Facial Recognition software together with the Intelligent Complex Event Processing engine, which correlates audio and video analytics, to detect suspicious behaviour and identify Persons of Interest (POIs) in both indoor and outdoor areas.
The second trial facilitated off-site security clearance for entry of authorised personnel into Jurong Island, thus reducing congestion at the checkpoints. NEC provided and tested a Bus Sensors Monitoring Management System using customised tamper-proof security sensors to prevent unauthorised opening of vehicle doors during the bus journey.
The third trial tested the feasibility of an automated system to provide a more efficient method of enrolling first-time visitors for entry into Jurong Island. The system leveraged NEC’s biometric solution to expedite clearance of such visitors via on-the-spot facial and fingerprint recognition enrolment at the car inspection bays.
For all the 3 trials, the technologies provided real-time monitoring and alerts to the simulated Command Centre, to inform the authorities of activities which may require law enforcement action.
“Our safety and security agencies are continuously seeking to make use of new technologies and innovation to keep up with challenges and maintain our operational excellence. Testing innovative solutions through the SSIP provides a useful platform to do so, and we look forward to more collaboration with solutions providers to address safety and security challenges, and to serve the public better,” said Mr. Ng Yeow Boon, Senior Director of MHA’s Ops-Tech Group.
Mr. Heah Soon Poh, Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Engineering and Operations Group, JTC, said, “JTC is always on the lookout for new solutions to ensure a safer environment in our industrial space. A key example is how we achieved better security operations by improving biometric access control at Jurong Island. We are pleased to support these latest efforts to testbed new security innovations,” said
“NEC is pleased to be part of the SSIP2020 initiative to utilise Singapore as a testbed to develop and deploy advanced next generation security solutions that can be scaled for use globally. We are committed to working closely with the authorities and corporations to create a safer and more secure environment for citizens and communities,” said Mr. Lim Kok Quee, Managing Director and Deputy CEO (ASEAN Sub-Region) of NEC Asia Pacific.
In June 2014, an NEC-led consortium completed the first phase of the Safe City Test Bed initiative at Orchard Road for the MHA and the EDB. The NEC-led consortium was one of four consortia (the other three being Accenture, AGT International and Airbus Defence and Space together with NCS) from the Safe City Test Bed showcased their range of solutions at the World Cities Summit 2014.
In August 2017, Hitachi Asia announced the successful completion of a project conducted over a period of 11 months under the SSIP. Hitachi Asia utilised its intelligent video analytics solutions and Multi Perspective Search Technology in real environment at the test-site, Sentosa Island, to address two of the innovation challenges identified by the SSIP office. The first challenge was to detect objects at sea with Hitachi’s high sensitivity camera in day and night from the Sentosa shoreline before providing alerts to ensure safety in our waters. The second challenge was to detect and track persons and unattended objects as well as to develop a mass broadcast and outreach mechanism to reach out to the public.
