Home Team Science and Technology Agency
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 December 2019 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Singapore |
| Headquarters | 1 Stars Avenue Singapore 138507 |
| Agency executives | |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Home Affairs |
| Website | https://www.htx.gov.sg/ |
| Agency ID | T19GB0001D |
The Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore to develop science and technology capabilities for Home Team operations.
History
[edit]The Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) was first announced on 19 February 2019 during the Budget, which was to be set up by the end of 2019. That will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs to better secure Singapore with its science and technology capabilities.[2] The initials of the agency are known as HTX; with "X" representing its role as a "force multiplier".[3]
The HTX was formed on 1 December 2019[1] and launched the following day by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,[4] with HTX showcasing its new technologies.[5][6][7]
Overview
[edit]The agency's mission is to "amplify, augment, and accelerate the Home Team’s advantage to secure Singapore’s future as the safest place on planet earth".[8] It would focus on areas such as surveillance, forensics, chemicals, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives threats, as well as robotics and unmanned systems.[3][9]
Latest developments
[edit]In November 2023, HTX announced that they were developing a barrier-free gantry and self-enrolment biometrics kiosk (collectively known as the 'Next-Generation Clearance Concept') for immigration clerance at Singapore's borders. The agency estimated that the new system would reduce the immigration clearance time from about two minutes to ten seconds per passenger.[10]
In June 2024, chief executive Chan Tsan announced that HTX would become an 'AI first' organisation and that all officers in the agency were being asked to "think AI first". He stated that a SGD 400 million budget would be allocated to HTX's projects in the forthcoming 3 years and a significant proportion of that would be used for AI research and development.
At the time, the agency had about 2,000 employees. Chan explained that the agency intended to hire and train an additional 500 persons, all of whom would be focused on AI work, in the next three to five years.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Iau, Jean (20 November 2019). "Chairman, chief executive of new Home Team Science and Technology Agency named". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ Lee, Jamie (18 February 2019). "Singapore Budget 2019: MHA to set up science and technology agency by year-end". The Business Times. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ a b Lim, Min Zhang (6 August 2019). "Parliament: HTX - a new Home Team agency tasked to develop cutting-edge technology". The Straits Times. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ "PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Official Launch of Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX)". PMO. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ Mahmud, Aqil Haziq (2 December 2019). "PM Lee launches new Home Team science and tech agency". CNA. Archived from the original on 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Lim, Min Zhang (2 December 2019). "Counter-drone vehicle, life-detection robots among new projects at Home Team Science and Technology Agency". The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ Lim, Min Zhang (2 December 2019). "Top engineering talent needed for Home Team Science and Technology Agency to succeed: PM Lee". The Straits Times. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ "Why We Exist". HTX. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "Home Team's new science and tech agency to focus on robots, surveillance capability: Josephine Teo". Channel NewsAsia. 1 March 2019. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ Sun, David (2023-11-16). "Singapore developing gantry for travellers to clear immigration as they walk through". Asia News Network. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
- ^ Sun, David (2024-07-07). "'Ride this AI wave or get left behind': HTX CEO on Home Team's $400m for projects". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
