Imperial, HTX Forge Public Safety Research Pact
Imperial and HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency) of Singapore have committed to a partnership in public safety and security research.
Imperial College London and HTX of Singapore have announced their shared intent to deepen collaboration in science and technology innovation to support public safety and security.
An agreement was signed at a celebratory event by Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial and Mr. Chan Tsan, Chief Executive of HTX and witnessed by Lucy Hughes, Deputy High Commissioner at the British High Commission in Singapore.
In a year of celebrations to mark 60 years of UK-Singapore diplomatic relations, this agreement marks a significant milestone in the longstanding relationship between the two institutions. Imperial and HTX have been working closely since 2024 on co-developing research and development initiatives aimed at enhancing public safety and supporting Singapore’s frontline emergency and border services.
Launched in 2019, HTX is the science and technology agency of Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs, dedicated to accelerating the Home Team’s mission to keep Singapore safe and secure. It plays a critical role in enhancing public safety and security in Singapore by innovating in areas such as biometrics, robotics, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
Mr. Chan Tsan, Chief Executive of HTX, said: “I am delighted that HTX has found a partner in an institution as renowned, distinguished and enterprising as Imperial. I am excited to see how a deepened collaboration between our two entities will spawn innovations in public safety that will make Singapore and countries around the globe safer and more secure in the future.”
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, said: “Imperial is proud to deepen our collaboration with HTX and create a long-term partnership built on a shared aspiration to co-create research, education and innovation initiatives. Together, we are not only advancing the frontiers of security research and working towards a safer world, we are also creating unique opportunities for the next generation of UK and Singapore scientists and engineers to participate in cutting-edge research using the latest emerging technologies.”
Lucy Hughes, Deputy High Commissioner at the British High Commission in Singapore, said: “This partnership between Imperial College London and HTX exemplifies the kind of forward-looking collaboration that defines the UK-Singapore relationship. As we celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations, this milestone reflects not only our shared commitment to public safety and scientific excellence, but also our ambition to harness the power of innovation and talent to address global challenges together.”
The collaboration will focus on advancing foundational and translational research, talent exchange, and innovation in key areas such as digital technologies, engineering, and the sciences. It will be anchored through the university’s Imperial Global Singapore research hub based at Singapore’s international CREATE campus, linking HTX science with major research groups at Imperial’s London South Kensington and White City Deep Tech campuses.
The Imperial-HTX research collaboration will be overseen by Professor Julie McCann, Co-Director of Imperial’s Space, Security and Telecoms School of Convergence Science, with the support of Imperial Global Singapore which is led by Academic Director, Professor Azra Ghani.
Professor Azra Ghani, Academic Director of Imperial Global Singapore, commented: “The strength of Imperial’s expanding academic, government and industry partnerships in Singapore is supercharging the rate at which our co-created research can translate scientific discovery into real-world impact. This new partnership with HTX aims to address complex security challenges and exemplifies how Imperial’s science has the potential to drive meaningful change in public safety and security.”
Professor Julie McCann, Co-Director of Imperial’s School of Space, Security and Telecoms, said: “Our world is changing and it is therefore more important than ever for us to use our expertise to find new ways to protect the people we love. That’s why we are looking forward to working with HTX to solve some of the most important scientific and technical challenges for improving public safety.
“Collaboration is the cornerstone of our new School of Space, Security and Telecoms, which will use a transformative convergence science approach to connect, protect and understand our world. This work will be made more effective and impactful by our presence in Singapore through our Imperial Global hub.”
Under the proposed new framework, Imperial and HTX will work together across four strategic pillars:
The UK-Singapore partnership also envisions the growth of a global alliance of like-minded public security and research stakeholders, further amplifying the impact of their work on a global scale.
Over the past year, there have been numerous visits and engagements between HTX and Imperial.
Academic Director Professor Azra Ghani welcomed an HTX delegation led by Mr. Aubeck Kam, HTX Chairman and Permanent Secretary (Development) at Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs, and Mr. Chan Tsan, Chief Executive of HTX, to the White City Deep Tech Campus in June 2025. Highlights included a tour of the Human Robotics Lab and the Henry Royce Institute to see Imperial’s world-leading technological innovation in action.
As part of the exploratory process leading to this shared research commitment, the HTX delegation heard presentations from Professor Ian Walmsley, Provost and Chair in Experimental Physics; Professor Julie McCann, Co-Director of Imperial’s Space, Security and Telecommunications School of Convergence Science who had previously visited HTX’s Singapore headquarters in May 2025; Nick Jones, Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of Schmidt AI for Science who spoke on AI for biology and Dr Leon Barron, Reader in Analytical & Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health who spoke on AI for chemistry.
The first visit to Imperial took place in Nov 2024, where the delegation led by Mr Chan was hosted by Professor Washington Ochieng at Imperial’s Institute for Security Science and Technology (ISST). Professor Ochieng and Professor Chris Hankin discussed Trustworthy Inter-Connect Cyber-Physical Systems (RITICS), such as cybersecurity of cyber-physical critical systems.
Imperial Global Singapore is the regional hub of Imperial in Southeast Asia, established in early 2024 to foster strategic partnerships across academia, government, and industry and deliver high-impact research, innovation, and education initiatives. Along with Imperial hubs in Bengaluru, San Francisco, and Accra, it serves as a gateway for Imperial’s global engagement, enabling the translation of cutting-edge science into solutions that address regional and global challenges.
This new initiative will further broaden Imperial Global Singapore’s multi-sector research portfolio which already covers global health, AI and tech security, clean energy, climate change mitigation and green finance. All research is underpinned by Imperial’s Science for Humanity vision.
Current projects include the IN-CYPHER health cybersecurity research programme, a S$20 million collaboration with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore; a clean energy ammonia fuel cell research project in collaboration with NTU and Cambridge CARES supported under the CREATE Thematic Programme in Decarbonisation by NRF Singapore; a decarbonisation research programme with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) focused on achieving net-zero emissions in the maritime sector; the PREPARE Pandemic preparedness programme with Ministry of Health & Communicable Diseases Agency; the Dengue & Zika Genomics Network with National Environment Agency (NEA), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Temasek Foundation; and the Singapore Green Finance Centre, a joint initiative with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore Management University (SMU) and leading global financial institutions.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/265933/imperial-singapores-htx-commit-partnership-public