Speech by Senior Minister of State for Defence, Mr Heng Chee How, at the MINDEF/SAF Digital Innovation Day

Good morning colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. It is very good to see all of you, and such a delight to be able to join you on this very meaningful event. This is my first event that I am officiating, having joined the MINDEF family so thank you very much for having me.

As all of us are aware, we are in the midst of a digital revolution that is transforming our economy, our society in every aspect of our lives, the way we work, live play. And for MINDEF and the SAF, digital technology presents the opportunity to also transform operations, the way training is done, and how the people within the organisations engage. And one of the realities we have to deal with is, and if you want to use the technical term, I think you call it the NS resource pool. In other words, the number of babies we get every year is not getting more despite great efforts. So what that means for the SAF is that we have got to make best use and better use and valuable use of each person that we have. So it's a constraint, but it's a challenge that if we can overcome it, it becomes a capability. So, but the reality is that we do face a declining pool of NS personnel that we can expect from year to year coming in. And indeed by the year 2030, it is estimated that the pool of NSFs might have fallen by a third compared to the level today. And beyond numbers, our people have also progressively becoming more educated and digitally adept. So therefore, accustomed to the conveniences of things like Google, calling taxis not by phone anymore but by apps, your Grabs of this world, your Amazons of this world. So Singaporeans, our people have similarly come to expect fast, good convenient and seamless services. Certainly when they pay for it in the private sector, and also in the high expectations of all of us who work in the public sector. And it is therefore imperative that we make full use of digital technologies to become even more effective in operations and to make the services to our servicemen more convenient and seamless. And it is with this in mind, that MINDEF/SAF has embarked on the next phase of the digitalisation journey.

MINDEF/SAF Digital Strategy

To be clear, digitalisation is not new to MINDEF/SAF. Since 2004, we have embarked on digitalisation to improve effectiveness in training and operations, efficiency in administration, as well as engagement of our people. So for instance, MINDEF's Enterprise System for Logistics was one of the pioneering military logistics systems which integrated and harmonised financial control and logistics process across the Army, Navy, Air Force and Joint services. This system helped to optimise logistics processes across the SAF to achieve better interoperability and efficiency. The rollout of the Next Generation NS Portal also vastly improved our services and outreach to our servicemen, to make it more convenient for them to transact with the SAF and therefore engendering and even more positive NS experience.

As digital technologies continue to improve, so must all of us and we need to accelerate our transformation to harness the full potential of the latest technologies, in order to do more with less and at the same time to provide for even better outcomes.

To do so, MINDEF and the SAF has put in place a three-pronged Digital Strategy, to drive digital innovation, invest in digital transformation and to enable agile systems delivery within MINDEF/SAF. These digital strategies aim to create a smart workplace and more effective workforce within MINDEF, enhance the NS experience and community engagement of Singaporeans, and improve the SAF's data-enabled warfighting capabilities to more effectively safeguard our security.

Cultivate a Digital and Innovation Friendly Culture

Firstly, and most fundamentally, we need to cultivate an organisational culture which is digital at its core and to the core and thereby empowering our people to embrace digital innovations. To do so, MINDEF/SAF will nurture an ecosystem in which innovation will thrive.

I have the pleasant duty and the great pleasure therefore to announce that MINDEF/SAF and the Defence Science and Technology Agency or (DSTA) have together developed a Live Digital Testbed @ RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base, which is the first sandbox in MINDEF/SAF to use commercial cloud platforms that offer a rich assortment of infrastructure, cognitive and software services like natural language processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics. It is also designed to provide or enable successful innovation outcomes beyond what a traditional sandbox can deliver. Together with the necessary security infrastructure to allow these commercial services to interoperate with our existing classified networks, it provides us with a fertile and good foundation on which to build applications by pulling in relevant services from the commercial cloud platforms.

RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base has been designated the Live Digital Testbed and will support the design and testing of smart digital solutions for MINDEF and the SAF. Started in October last year, it has seen the testing of 10 different projects in a very short span of half a year. Domains currently carrying out prototype testing include HR, safety, training, engineering, finance, base access, and green buildings. Through the design thinking and prototyping process, the Live Digital Testbed has facilitated rapid experimentation and honed the creative solutioning skills of many teams.

Underpinning this success is the deep collaboration between the SAF and our tech experts at the DSTA and the DSO National Laboratories, people within our ecosystem who are passionate about innovation and are unafraid to think big and act fast. The cases featured at the exhibition hall bear testament to this strong collaboration.

The Live Digital Testbed also brings the private sector into our defence ecosystem to spark interesting and ingenious collaborations. Many of these companies are here with us today, and I want to highlight one particular collaboration which resulted in the RSN's Naval Warfare Training App, which is called Warriors of the Sea. The RSN worked closely with the local game developer called Lionfish Studios to develop the app. The app infuses elements of gaming into what we call "anytime, anywhere" learning for our naval warfighters. The app will allow servicemen to revise their concepts more frequently and optimise the use of our training facilities. The use of gaming in learning is also believed to improve knowledge absorption and retention, and the results from our trials with servicemen have indeed been very promising. And we look forward to subsequent expansions to the app. Actually it makes a lot of sense, when you make things fun people learn better.

The Live Digital Testbed lowers the barriers for digital transformation, and encourages an organisation structure, culture that is willing to experiment and is nimble in adapting to changes in the environment. Like those teams that have boldly tested and experimented in this Testbed, I urge all of us to also think big, start small and act fast, because change can only come about if we are willing to try. And frankly when you try, nobody can guarantee that you will be successful in every small detail all the time. It is in the nature of trying but if you do not try, by definition, you cannot improve so let us really learn from these teams and take those steps. And I am certain that the projects and solutions that have birthed from this testbed will change, if not revolutionise the way we work, and I look forward to many more of these projects to come.

Invest in Digital Transformation

Secondly, besides trials and experimentations, the full scale implementation of digitalisation requires significant investment. Therefore, resources must be prioritised in high pay-off areas, such as in systems that are used daily, and to resolve pain-points or constraints that will deliver tangible and impactful outcomes to a larger community.

One such project with high pay-offs, is the RSN's Smart Base Access. Security is of paramount importance when it comes to controlling access into our compounds. The criticality of ensuring security means that the nature of the work is often manpower intensive if you don't use technology. Especially, with our shrinking NS pool, the RSN recognised that there was a need to relook the way to secure our bases. At the same time, we also acknowledged that the existing process for clearance into the bases can be tedious and time-consuming. So out came the Smart Base Access system, that is currently being trialled at the Live Digital Testbed, and it aims to address these pain-points and to overcome these constraints and will deliver an experience that is fast and simple while enhancing the security of our bases.

The Smart Base Access comprises a two-factor authentication system that allows for mobile pre-registration of visitors and utilises a combination of facial recognition and digital identification to simplify the entry process. When in base, geo-tag and video analytics technology would also enable us to monitor movement and enforce security zones accordingly. And this was the system I came through just now, coming into base. It works, it works very well, fuss free. This new access system would transform the way we approach security and free up precious manpower to be deployed for other very useful operations that are also very important to us

These projects will no doubt bring about positive changes to our work environment. I also see potential for some of these technologies to be adapted for use by the larger community, or even the Singaporean public. In the longer term, this should be the kind of impact we hope to make which is beyond the technical parts of it, beyond the technology of it. It is really how we can touch lives and improve the living environment for our fellow citizens. Bring convenience to all.  

Be Ready to Capitalise on Useful Digital Technologies

Lastly, we need to ensure that MINDEF/SAF is ready to capitalise on the latest digital innovations and can quickly deliver and deploy those relevant systems within MINDEF/SAF. One such area is in harnessing the potential of data to improve the way we work. With the wealth of data in our systems, there are high returns in our efforts to get the organisation "data-ready". We have placed great emphasis on ramping up the organisation's data analytics capabilities because the use of data eventually will percolate and affect every aspect of work and life. Therefore, it applies to all of us in so many different aspects, regardless of which part of the organization we may be in.

For example, the Army has harnessed data analytics through the Army Battlefield Instrumentation Analytics system to provide commanders with focused training data from the field for more effective and efficient action reviews with their men. The Army has also developed a Telemetry and Analysis System for Tracked Vehicles, which is a seamless integrated system that transmits the vehicle's performance data to a control centre for analysis. And with the analysis, maintenance personnel are then alerted when a vehicle is likely to experience an upcoming technical issue. So you go upstream, better able to predict and therefore your overall readiness will improve because of that, not only just in time but indeed before time but in the right place type of maintenance.

Such "data-ready" efforts would also enable us to better engage and interact with the young people of today, born digital natives and they have come to expect information at the fingertips, to improve the overall NS experience. The Smart In-Camp Training App that is now being piloted is one such example. This is a one-stop platform that consolidates information such as parade state, NSmen training records and weather conditions from multiple sources. This allows NS Commanders and NSmen to be kept abreast of the trainings and performance status; and facilitates ICT planning and greater engagement of our NSmen.

I hope that these many different types and areas of innovations will provide all of us with inspiration on how digital technologies can improve our processes as well as how we engage with our fellow colleagues and servicemen. I urge all of us to take active steps to make our departments, our units better and better equipped in order to employ, deploy and enjoy the benefits of the latest digital technologies to keep MINDEF/SAF at the forefront of digital transformation.

Kick-starting Digital Education

To do that, we need education, so digital education for our people is a key enabler in this transformation. In fact, the Digital Innovation Day was created with this in mind. At this event, the organisers have lined up various exhibitions, seminars, hands on workshops and tech talks to kick-start this digital education. I encourage all of us to attend the seminars and experiential learning workshops to gain a greater appreciation of our digital opportunities, join in the make-a-thons to be part of the co-creation process, and view the exhibits to be inspired by what your own departments could do to transform and streamline businesses processes and operations to become more effective and efficient, more impactful, more purposeful. Let us also not forget that even as we make progress in our digitalisation efforts, ultimately it is about serving our fellowman. It is that human touch. We want to bring the human touch to things and make the additional difference. If we could all take a step further to consider how our data and insights could be applied, I am sure we will be able to spot synergies and new ideas that may not have previously have been so obvious to us

I want to stress that MINDEF/SAF's digital transformation would be an all-encompassing one. It should not be limited to those working in our technical agencies or working with our computer and IT systems. It is actually available for everybody to take advantage of and we should. Moving forward, MINDEF/SAF would be investing more in enhancing digital literacy of our colleagues, and building up specialised knowledge for those "digital advocates" who are leading and supporting digital transformation initiatives within the organisation in their respective areas. An organisation-wide training roadmap to build on data analytics competency is already being finalised and we will also establish a career development framework for our data analytics community to enable them to contribute meaningfully across the entire organisation. These signal the organisation's long-term commitment to strengthening our digital proficiencies in order to support our digital innovation efforts.

Conclusion

After today, I hope that all of us will be galvanised to explore how digital innovation efforts can bring about a more positive impact in our respective workplaces. I urge everyone to participate in our digital transformation process to create a dynamic MINDEF/SAF that is Ready, Sustainable and Innovative. In the fast paced environment of digital innovation, what we really need to do is start small but move fast and evolve repeatedly so we can always get better. All of which are qualities I think it's not for me to preach with you cause you are the converted. Those I believe are the core values of MINDEF/SAF. And therefore I have every confidence that we can rise to the challenge.

Thank you.

More Resources

• Work and Train Smarter in MINDEF/SAF’s first Live Digital Testbed at RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base

• Fact Sheet: MINDEF/SAF's first Live Digital Testbed @ RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base