Temasek Polytechnic Security Industry Institute Kabam Robotics Conference – Speech by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

1. Good afternoon everyone. First and foremost, allow me to wish all our security officers present today a Happy Security Officers’ Day. Thank you for your hard work, your dedication, and your strong partnership with the Home Team to keep Singapore safe and secure.

2. I would also like to record my thanks to Temasek Polytechnic’s Security Industry Institute (TP-SII) for hosting this conference.

3. Today’s conference theme – "Elevating Security: Catalysing Workforce Evolution with Robotics and Technology Integration” – covers a few industry priorities in training, job redesign, and technology adoption. These are critical for smooth and effective operations, as well as to drive a wider industry transformation. I am sure we will be able to learn a lot from the range of presentations today.

4. The two MOUs to be signed today will further boost our industry’s upskilling and technology adoption efforts.

5. The first MOU, between SkillsFuture Singapore and AETOS Holdings, appoints AETOS as the SkillsFuture Queen Bee for the security industry. I still recall the days where I was at Temasek Investments Group and AETOS was actually one of my portfolio companies. You know, whenever I see AETOS now, and to know that we are officially recognising them as the Queen Bee for the security industry, I do see AETOS having come so far, and the strong foundations that AETOS has laid its business and foundations on. This appointment fully recognises AETOS’s strong and consistent efforts in spearheading skills development and innovation, and puts AETOS in the driving seat to work with industry stakeholders to create a wider training ecosystem with clear and structured pathways. AETOS will also provide mentorship to security agencies, particularly the SMEs, to adopt advanced and inter-operable technology through proof-of-concept projects, and accelerate the adoption of outcome-based contracting.

6. There is currently a wide repertoire of Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses, supported by SkillsFuture Singapore, for the security industry that cover in-demand and emerging skills such as Threat Observation, Deterrence, Security Surveillance Management, and Robotics and Automation Application, and these have been well-received by our security officers and agencies. I think that in Singapore, sometimes it is easy for us to take law and order issues as granted, because I think we fully recognise that we are very safe in Singapore; law and order is pretty much well-kept and there is high trust in our public institutions, especially in the Home Team. But, I think when we read about online radicalisation and when we read about, increasingly, the young ages of those whom we have picked up and whom have been radicalised online, it just reminds us that we have to continue to make sure that we have both the online and offline space well-safeguarded. That’s only possible if we have the collaboration and partnership of security agencies and officers such as yourselves.

7. So, moving forward, we will need to widen opportunities for security officers to be adept with newer and more advanced technology solutions and operating demands, such as in integrated command centres, which will be offered by AETOS under the programme I mentioned earlier. AETOS, as the Queen Bee, will play an important role in leading the industry to upgrade our security agencies and officers’ competencies in these areas.

8. The second MOU, between TP-SII and KABAM Robotics, facilitates closer collaboration on developing specialised robotics courses for the security industry. These courses aim to provide security supervisors and officers with deeper knowledge of robotics technology to enhance security operations. I am optimistic that such courses will draw strong interest. In MHA’s Security Industry Survey 2022, 91% of security officers surveyed agreed that technology has reduced manual and mundane tasks. Those who had experience with robots and drones, specifically for surveillance, recognised that it made operations more effective. In addition, the percentage of security officers who felt confident using such solutions increased by 36 percentage points between 2020 and 2022. These results show that we should continue to press on to train and equip our officers with skills on operating with robots.

9. I am hopeful that these robotics courses will also increase the confidence of our security agencies in integrating robots and similar technologies into their operations. Increasingly, such technologies are not just “nice to have” or “good to have”, but a “must have”, given the manpower constraints we face. I have talked about how these courses and the technology actually help us on the operations side of things, but I think it is also important to work together to upkeep and uplift the image the security industry has. The more we use robotics, the more we use automation, the more we use technology, the more we are able to make the security industry attractive to new entrants.

10. So, with that, I think we are all looking forward to the signing of the two MOUs today, as well as the presentations that will follow. They reflect the continued progress and strong momentum in industry transformation. I would like to commend these efforts and encourage closer collaborations between our various partners to further uplift the security industry.

11. With that, thank you very much, and I hope that you have a meaningful and engaging conference.