Singapore safety show launches smart cities initiative

Safety & Security Asia 2026 has launched a Smart Cities Initiative within its five co-located shows in Singapore.

The programme brings together security, fire safety, health and safety, emergency services, and systems integration under a single smart cities banner. It is aimed at government agencies, city planners, infrastructure operators, system integrators, and business leaders involved in connected urban projects.

The event is expected to feature more than 475 exhibitors and over 10,000 products and services, and to attract more than 13,000 practitioners from across the region.

Connected cities

At the centre of the programme is a focus on artificial intelligence, digital twins, internet of things systems, and integrated command centres in urban management. The conference agenda also highlights data use in city operations, smart building risk management, and the role of security in smart nations.

Safety & Security Asia is made up of five shows: The Security Event Asia, The Fire Safety Event Asia, The Health & Safety Event Asia, The Emergency Services Show Asia, and Pro Integration Future Asia. Organisers are positioning the Smart Cities Initiative as a way to connect sectors that often operate separately but increasingly rely on shared data and linked systems.

That matters in a market where many city projects now span public safety, transport, utilities, building management, and emergency response. The initiative reflects a broader push in Asia to bring together surveillance, sensor networks, operational control rooms, and planning tools as urban authorities seek better visibility over day-to-day risks.

Industry programme

Kenny Tay, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Artificial Intelligence Association, is among the industry figures attached to the programme. Other ambassadors named by organisers include Kok Chin Tay, Chairman of Smart Cities Network; Dato Ambran Abu Bakar, Group Chairman and Founder of SCAVAI Alliance Pte Ltd Singapore; and Dr Duong Van Thinh, Chairman of AI & Data Centre Vietnam.

A brief outline of the conference sessions shows how organisers want to frame the discussion. Topics include how digitalisation and data can support AI-led city systems, the future of urban safety, the use of digital twins and connected data in responsive cities, and the development of intelligent environments.

One session focuses on women working across artificial intelligence, lighting, and smart cities, suggesting an attempt to broaden the conversation beyond infrastructure and operational technology alone. Others point to a more practical emphasis on implementation, with panels expected to discuss regional projects and lessons from deployment.

Visitors will be able to use a dedicated programme to identify suppliers and partners relevant to smart city work. Exhibitors joining the initiative will be highlighted to help buyers find companies offering digital and connected technologies.

Regional demand

While trade events often group adjacent markets together, the scale of this initiative suggests a push to make smart city planning a more defined commercial category within the wider safety and security sector. By combining specialist shows under one umbrella, organisers are betting that demand for integrated urban systems will draw interest from both public authorities and private operators.

Singapore has long promoted itself as a test bed for smart nation technologies, making it a natural venue for a regional event focused on connected city systems. Across South East Asia and the wider region, authorities are under pressure to modernise urban infrastructure while managing public safety, resilience, and emergency response in denser, more digitally dependent cities.

For suppliers, that creates openings not only in hardware and software but also in integration work, where different data sources and control systems must work together. For buyers, it raises familiar questions about interoperability, operational oversight, and how to turn large volumes of incoming information into decisions front-line teams can use.

AI integration

Organisers have put artificial intelligence at the centre of that debate, arguing that linked systems matter more than standalone tools. One of the programme's core themes is that city infrastructure becomes more useful when data from separate functions can be interpreted together rather than in isolation.

"A smart city isn't defined by how much technology it deploys, but by how intelligently that technology talks to itself. AI is the layer that turns security cameras, fire sensors, health systems and emergency networks into one coherent, responsive city rather than a patchwork of separate tools. That's the shift Singapore and the wider region are making, and it's exactly the conversation this Initiative brings together in one place," said Tay.