Senior Minister of State for Defence Mr Heng Chee How officiated at the inaugural MINDEF/SAF Digital Innovation Day at RSS Singapura – Changi Naval Base this morning. Mr Heng viewed the innovative projects that were on exhibition and interacted with the team members of the projects. A total of 22 innovative projects, which leverage digital technology to improve and enhance work processes and systems within MINDEF/SAF, were exhibited at the event.

Speaking at the event, Mr Heng noted the importance of leveraging technology within MINDEF/SAF. He said, "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."

Mr Heng also acknowledged the need to provide an environment conducive for innovation. He said, "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".

The digital sandbox – Live Digital Testbed (LDTB) – had been designed with the requisite security framework which will enable users to access an assortment of infrastructure, cognitive and software services such as natural language processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics. The LDTB has facilitated the rapid experimentation of 10 different projects across domains such as human resource, safety, training, engineering, finance, base access, and green buildings to date. The LDTB is not only limited to innovations between personnel from MINDEF and SAF, it also provides a space in which the defence technology ecosystem and the technology industry can come together to collaborate.

Over 1,000 MINDEF and SAF personnel attended the MINDEF/SAF Digital Innovation Day, which took place over two days from 14 May to 15 May. Besides the exhibits, the event also featured over 30 seminars hosted by MINDEF/SAF speakers and industry leaders, as well as hands-on digital learning workshops conducted by external vendors. This is part of MINDEF's overall efforts to drive digital innovation and the MINDEF/SAF Digital Innovation Day and the LDTB marked a significant step forward in MINDEF's digital transformation journey.