HTX and Cisco sign MOU to use 5G and AI to enhance public security  

Oleh Sol Gonzalez

The projects under the agreement include development of 5G and AI-based security operations to improve public safety in Singapore. 

From left to right: Dr. Guy Diedrich, Senior Vice President & Global Innovation Officer, Cisco; Mr. Jonathan Davidson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Networking; Mr. Chan Tsan, Chief Executive, HTX; Mr. Aubeck Kam, Chairman, HTX. Image: Cisco.

Singapore’s Home Team Science and Technology (HTX) agency will collaborate with Cisco to pilot 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies under Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) Programme.  


The projects aim to leverage Cisco’s 5G-as-a-Service solution to trial different 5G proofs-of-concept to improve homeland security.  


Additionally, both organisations will collaborate on innovative AI security operations to tackle cyberthreats.  


This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) comes at a time when the evolution of AI provides both challenges and opportunities for cybersecurity. 


At the recent AI Security Summit, leaders in the cyberspace and security sectors called for the need to incorporate AI capabilities into cybersecurity systems, GovInsider reported.  


HTX is a statutory board that develops tech and scientific solutions to support homeland security efforts in Singapore, including the country’s police and civil defence forces, prison services, and border operations. 

Fighting cyber threats with on-premises AI platform 


Cisco and HTX will tap on AI to strengthen security operations.  


They will be collaborating on a project to build a customised AI-based Security and Network Operations (AISecOps) platform “hosted on-premise alongside HTX’s domain data,” Cisco said.  


Such a platform will enable the agency to tap on generative AI (GenAI), identify and address cyber threats more effectively, while keeping sensitive data securely hosted within HTX infrastructure.  


GenAI’s natural language capabilities can simplify cybersecurity and help non-technical employees act in the face of cyber threats, Cisco’s Director of Cybersecurity Sales, ASEAN, Koo Juan Huat told GovInsider previously. 


Last year, Singapore’s Smart Nation Group partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deploy dedicated cloud infrastructure, which was to enable the country to run more sensitive workloads on the cloud securely and tap on public cloud benefits such as elasticity and scalability. 


The Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies also partnered with Google Cloud to pilot private cloud services, allowing it to access Google’s AI services while keeping sensitive data secure. 


Cisco’s CDA programme supports state and local governments to realise their digitalisation agendas by co-developing solutions in digital infrastructure. 


Recently, Cisco launched the CDA programme in Vietnam to support the country’s growth in digital economy. 


HTX Chief Executive Chan Tsan and Cisco Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Networking Jonathan Davidson signed the MOU at Cisco’s global headquarters in San Jose, United States.