The National Environment Agency (NEA) and IBM researchers are collaborating to develop advanced predictive capabilities.
This will help simulate, forecast, manage and report on key environmental concerns in Singapore, and enable NEA to take proactive measures to manage air quality, extreme weather, and early detection of dengue outbreaks and food poisoning incidents.
For example, the forecasting capability will help NEA better inform the public ahead of changes in air quality.
NEA’s CEO Andrew Tan explained: “If there is a pollution incident that affects the air quality, where will the pollutants have the biggest impact in the community, taking into account the environmental conditions in that area, taking into account the built environment in that area, can we simulate how this air quality incident spreads to these other areas?”
The collaboration will see NEA and IBM’s mathematical experts using advanced analytics to turn real-time data from NEA’s environmental sensor networks into intelligence, or even predictive insight that facilitates smarter, proactive decisions.
Besides helping other public agencies in their operations, the information gathered will also help the public make informed choices in their daily activities.
The three-year collaboration was announced at the Clean Enviro Summit, where a Joint Development Agreement was signed in the presence of Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
