NEA turns to thermal cameras and AI analytics in its fight against rats
Source: AsiaOne
NEA is deploying thermal cameras, motion-activated sensors and AI video analytics in its campaign against rats, which has seen detected burrows drop 40 per cent in early 2026. The move reflects how Singapore's public agencies are quietly embedding AI into everyday urban management.
Singapore's war on rats is getting a technology upgrade. The National Environment Agency is leaning on thermal cameras, passive infra-red sensors and — increasingly — AI-driven video analytics to track rodents across the island, part of a push that has coincided with a sharp drop in detected rat burrows.
The numbers show the shift is working at scale. NEA reports a 40 per cent decline in rat burrows in the first four months of 2026, with the average detected per surveillance cycle falling from about 4,900 in 2025 to roughly 2,900 across the two latest cycles. The agency has introduced thermal cameras that map rat movement and congregation spots without spooking the neophobic creatures, alongside motion-activated PIR cameras that run autonomously around the clock and videoscopes that peer into burrows and crevices.
What makes the programme notable is where it is heading next. NEA is developing a video analytics and AI tool to auto-detect rats in footage, aiming to cut the hours officers currently spend manually reviewing images. As assistant manager Goh Jong Ching puts it, the goal is to move from a reactive approach to one that is proactive, targeted and evidence-based — spotting the hotspots early and intervening before an area becomes fully rat-infested.
The rodent campaign is a small but telling example of how Singapore's public agencies are applying AI to everyday urban problems. Where much of the enterprise AI conversation centres on productivity and customer service, here the technology is doing the less glamorous work of public health — turning continuous surveillance data into faster, cheaper detection in environments that are hard to inspect by hand.
Why it matters for Singapore: The NEA rat programme shows the practical, operational side of Singapore's Smart Nation ambitions — AI quietly embedded into the machinery of city management rather than showcased at summits. As agencies from CNB to SMRT roll out their own analytics tools, the rat campaign is a template for how government can use machine learning not to dazzle, but to measurably improve outcomes in the everyday problems residents actually notice.
