SAF Expands Cybersecurity Student Talent Development Programme to Include AI Skills in 2026

Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, interacting with student teams participating in the Sentinel Challenge.

Mr Chan delivering closing remarks to students and parents at the closing ceremony of the Sentinel Challenge earlier today.

Mr Chan presenting the award to the winning student team of the Sentinel Challenge.

Students participating in the Sentinel Challenge.

Launched nationwide in 2024, the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) Sentinel Programme aims to equip our youths with cybersecurity and digital skills, and empower them to contribute to digital defence. Approximately 800 students from secondary schools, junior colleges, polytechnics, and Institutes of Technical Education (ITE) are enrolled in the programme yearly.

Minister for Defence, Mr Chan Chun Sing, visited the Sentinel Challenge earlier today. The Sentinel Challenge marks the culmination of the lower-secondary Sentinel Programme training with a competitive technical challenge. At the event, Mr Chan presented awards to the winning teams of the Sentinel Challenge, and the best-performing students of the lower-secondary Sentinel Programme. Speaking to student participants and parents at the closing ceremony held at Singapore Polytechnic, Mr Chan emphasised the importance of national programmes to cultivate technical skills for high-aptitude youths. He said, "The cyber security challenges for our country and for the rest of the world is a very big (one). We hope to have you growing up, understanding the issue (and) in time to come, you will be the ones helping the country to overcome them."

The DIS will incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) modules into the Sentinel Programme curriculum from 2026, and partner with AI Singapore (AISG) to equip selected Sentinel Programme students with applied AI core competencies, enabling them to work on real-world problem statements.[1] Commander Defence Cyber Command (DCCOM)/Defence Cyber Chief Colonel Clarence Cai said, “Cyber operations are already being transformed by AI. Going forward, there will be vast implications for future cyber tradecraft. There is a need for Sentinel Programme, as a cyber youth programme, to prepare a new generation of defenders who are grounded in the fundamentals of cyber and also able to reflexively use AI for cyber operations. DCCOM will incorporate AI content into the curricula from 2026 onwards and will run “AI-for-Cyber” internships for selected students, supported by AISG.”

Under the Sentinel Programme, students will undergo a comprehensive curriculum to learn real-world cybersecurity skills in topics such as web programming, network forensics, and penetration testing. Students will also have opportunities to visit defence agencies, participate in internships, and be mentored by working cybersecurity professionals. Interested students in Secondary Schools, Junior Colleges, Polytechnics, and ITE may visit the website (https://dis.gov.sg/sentinel-programme) for the application details.

[1] The DIS and AI Singapore had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2023 to further collaboration in enhancing AI capabilities for Singapore’s digital defence.