Singapore’s Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX), the innovation arm behind the country’s police, immigration and emergency services, is set to boost its use of artificial intelligence (AI) through an expanded collaboration with Google Cloud.
Building on an existing partnership, this will explore both scientific and technological cooperation in areas including AI security and cybersecurity research; AI model development; cloud platform implementation; infrastructure and services; AI-enabled software solutions; and AI governance and training.
In turn, HTX will adopt Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Air-Gapped, a fully managed solution designed for organisations with strict isolation requirements, later this year. The digital infrastructure will enable HTX to meet rigorous sovereignty and regulatory demands.
The agency will also work closely with Google Cloud to explore AI governance models and guardrails for public safety use cases related to Explainable AI, Robust AI and AI safety.
The collaboration also focuses on developing a GenAI Solution Accelerator for deployment in GDC Air-Gapped, and the deployment of Google’s AI models on Vertex AI for agentic AI, robotics and embodied AI. These solutions can potentially be used by other public safety agencies to save lives and maintain public safety.
A key part of this partnership involves Google Cloud working with HTX to train and optimise AI Google’s AI models to enhance HTX’s mission and operations.
HTX’s collaboration with Google Cloud marks an expansion of its ongoing AI transformation, as it actively advances its AI capabilities.
For instance, HTX has been scaling its AI workforce since it launched its HTxAI movement, an initiative to accelerate the adoption of AI in national security and public safety, in June 2024. The HTX AI workforce is expected to reach 300 by the end of 2025, with the number eventually hitting 500.
So far, the Home Team has already mapped over 300 AI use cases, with the first wave of deployments in operations expected by the end of 2025. These AI solutions are projected to improve operational effectiveness, officers’ user experience and deliver productivity gains of around 30 per cent in many of the use cases.
Building on its AI initiatives, HTX has developed Phoenix – a series of large language models (LLMs) trained on Home Team data to enhance accuracy and efficiency in critical tasks such as data analysis and information processing. Besides English, the model supports Bahasa Melayu and Tamil.
“AI is poised to become a cornerstone of public sector operations, transforming how government agencies serve their constituents and make decisions,” said Karan Bajwa, president, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud.
He added that this partnership with HTX to develop and deploy advanced AI and cloud solutions in the public safety domain can potentially be a model for governments around the world.
“AI has the potential to transform our work in ensuring the safety and security of Singaporeans,” said Ang Chee Wee, HTX’s chief AI officer and assistant chief executive (digital and enterprise).
“The challenges we face in the realm of public safety are constantly changing, and we must stay ahead of the curve by leveraging the latest in AI technologies if we are to tackle them effectively,” he added.
