RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base has been designated as the Live Digital Testbed (LDTB) to support the design and testing of smart digital solutions for the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The idea of a LDTB was first conceptualised in 2017 and took on its first trial in Feb 18. The driving motivation behind the idea of a LDTB was to harness the potential of digital innovation to transform the way servicemen live, work and train.

A dedicated space for innovation

Jointly established by MINDEF/SAF and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), the LDTB is the first-of-its-kind digital sandbox within MINDEF/SAF. It provides innovators with a physical space to experiment with digital innovations and more importantly, it is a safe-to-fail environment so that innovators can focus on testing and improving their projects. Till date, there are 10 ongoing projects across domains such as human resource, safety, training, engineering, finance, base access, medical, fitness and green buildings that are part of the LDTB.

Building an infrastructure that is digital at its core

The LDTB will be designed with an infrastructure that is digital at its core. Commercial cloud-based platforms at the LDTB will provide users a digital foundation upon which they could build mobile applications and tap on specialised services such as machine learning and data analytics. These digital services will allow the project teams to carry out rapid prototyping.

Empowering innovators through useful partnerships

Beyond being a physical space and digital infrastructure for projects to be trialled, project teams can participate in design thinking workshops facilitated by our partners such as DesignSingapore Council and Singapore University of Technology and Design. These workshops equip teams with the skills to critically analyse the ‘pain-points’ they face in their daily operations. By doing so, it allows teams to dive deeper into the underlying causes of ‘pain-points’ so that their innovations can more effectively tackle the root of the problem using digital technology.

The success of the LDTB is underpinned by the strong collaboration between innovators from the SAF and technologists from DSTA and the DSO National Laboratories. Together, innovators can tap on expertise and best practices from institutes of higher learning, industry and start-ups, and expand MINDEF’s defence technology ecosystem to spark new innovations to transform the way we live, work and train.