Improving the Public Safety & Security Sector Using State-of-the-Art Technologies

As part of the Public Safety and Security (PSS) Learning Journey, 25 SUSS Public Safety & Security Degree students visited the NEC Laboratories at Biopolis Road on 2 August 2022. The Learning Journey aimed to provide students with an insight to industry’s practices and latest trends as well as the opportunity to meet industry leaders and professionals.

During the trip, the students were given an in-depth overview and demonstration of the artificial intelligence technologies that NEC have been developing and continuously improving, such as behaviour and action recognition, acoustics analytics, and safe distancing detectors. Most importantly, students were equipped on the knowledge of using new technologies to improve operation efficiency and to provide a safer environment for the society.

Ashruf Ali Naazneen Ashfur, Year Two student, felt that the learning journey was insightful and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She was particularly interested in the company’s introduction of their biometric mechanism, which uses one’s unique ear cavity shape to distinguish individuals.

“With many security incidents happening in Singapore and having it well-known that humans tend to be the weakest link in the security chain, these biometric tools can serve as a line of defence to ensure that the users who are accessing certain parts of a company's data are who they claim to be. The use of biometric data would aid in reducing the number of scam and phishing-related incidents as the systems would have another built-in layer of security that improves the authentication process,” said Naazneen, who is also the President of the PSS Interest Group (IG).

Tung Jing Qi, a Year Two student and Publicity Head for the PSS IG, added that the session was useful and applicable, especially to the students who are scholars from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), as they are currently in the field.

MHA scholar Kenneth Tan, who is a third-year PSS student, said that the experience was an eye-opener for him. “I think this should be a learning experience for all students to get them thinking about how such technology can be utilised to improve the public safety and security sector,” he added.

Mr Christopher Lam, Vice President and Head of NEC Laboratories Singapore (NLS) shared his takeaway from the sharing session: “At the end of the session, the PSS students had an insightful discussion among themselves on how some of the technologies they saw can help to enhance the safety and security of institutions such as prisons and halfway houses. Thanks to the students for being very sporting and vocal in the interactive session, we have certainly learnt something ourselves!”