Even before the formation of HTX, Felix Foo was already helping to drive the digital transformation of public security, and he is more excited than ever to forge ahead.
In just eight years with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Felix has not only witnessed, but has helped to bring about wave after wave of transformative technological change.
That is one of his favourite parts of the job.
First posted to the Singapore Prison Service to manage the closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems in 2011, he was there as part of the team that replaced the old analogue CCTVs with newer digitized CCTVs that produced much clearer images.
Today, at HTX, he is looking at developing advance technology road maps and collaborations while integrating existing systems together to harness the multiplier effect.
Now, with AI technology that intelligently detects objects or patterns which appear in videos, and with integration that combines various video systems into one virtual space, officers are able to access recordings from different sites at the convenience of a few clicks.
“It’s like a common data lake powered by AI, where everything piped in is sense-made to complement the officers in their operations and decision-making,” he said.
What Felix loves about his work at HTX is the opportunity to work with valuable technologies that though might not be money-making and therefore unattractive to private businesses, might otherwise prove to be useful in public security in future.
HTX provides a great incubatory environment for R&D, which could benefit people in future. We are driven by the desire to make Singapore safe and secure, not make money.
That is a key reason why the Information Systems Management graduate from Singapore Management University had chosen to join MHA straight out of school–to forward a future on the front-line.
“HTX provides a great incubatory environment for R&D, which could benefit people in future. We are driven by the desire to make Singapore safe and secure, not make money,” he said.
Unlike in the past where each Home Team department might have their own tech teams, HTX allows the sharing of innovations across all centres of the Home Team.
“We are a multiplier, in the sense that one solution can be multiplied across different agencies,” he said.
Of course, the HTX teams do not work in silos.
Sometimes, Felix tweaks commercial solutions–which private businesses may have come up with–to localise them for the utility of Singapore’s security needs.
At the same time, he works with other public agencies that are driving Singapore’s overall digital transformation, like the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), which supports the Ministry of Defence and GovTech.
Adaptability and resourcefulness are the key aptitudes for the forward-looking talent and his team.
“We are all working and weaving the technologies together to serve Singapore,” he said.