Digitalised mobilisation among winning ideas at S’pore defence innovation symposium

SINGAPORE – National servicemen (NSmen) called back to camp for mobilisation exercises know the drudgery of queueing up at stations to get their paper mobilisation cards stamped, such as for attendance-taking and after equipment inspection.

But the army’s 3rd Division has, since March 2023, done away with hard copies, and let NSmen instead scan their physical identity cards, or the digital equivalent on their Singpass app.

This innovation has cut manpower needs by up to 70 per cent, reduced NSmen’s waiting time and resulted in happier soldiers, said 8th Singapore Armoured Brigade’s deputy operations officer, Captain Sharmini Saygar.

This project contributed to the 3rd Division becoming one of four winners of the Minister for Defence Award, the top award at the annual Ignite Innovation Symposium, on July 23.

It is awarded to departments and units across the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in recognition of outstanding achievements, such as in the areas of innovation and future workplace experience.

CPT Sharmini, 34, who is from the 3rd Division, said the digitalised registration system, which took three months to develop, has eliminated the old practice where her team had to report mobilisation numbers every half an hour, which she then had to tabulate.

Now, a dashboard gives brigade commanders real-time updates on the mobilisation’s progress and whether there are any choke points that need intervention.

At the awards ceremony at Mindef’s headquarters, Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How stressed the importance of military organisations staying innovative to maintain their edge.

He cited conflicts, such as in Ukraine and the Middle East, as having provided both salutary lessons and cautionary tales on how sophisticated and expensive equipment provides no certainty of safety against an innovative enemy.

For instance, the Ukrainians were able to use swarms of naval drones to break Russia’s dominance in the Black Sea, such that exports from Greater Odesa ports are now close to pre-war levels, he noted.

“To win the battle, you must always have people who can think or do things differently, to change the rules of the game, and to gain that advantage,” he said. “The side that possesses such aptitude has great advantage, and the side that cannot adapt to changing or challenging circumstances will likely lose.”

But innovation must not only be top-down, but also bottom-up, added Mr Heng. He noted that among the ideas generated were modifying rifles used by the SAF so they can neutralise small drones – a cheap way to attack cheap things that an adversary may use in an attack against Singapore.

The template for the digitalised mobilisation system created by the 3rd Division will also be scaled up and integrated into the OneNS application, he added.

Another recipient of the Minister for Defence Award was the Republic of Singapore Navy’s (RSN) 8th Flotilla, which found a way to seal off damaged ship compartments more quickly, while using less manpower than previously needed.

The squadron achieved this by repurposing commercially available magnetic polyurethane patches, originally meant to fix industrial leaks. Fixing a leak this way requires two sailors to apply the patch, and just one to monitor it, versus the traditional method where three men have to support a metal box against gushing water for as long as the ship remained at sea, said chief electrical control systems supervisor Military Expert 3 Ngo Pit Teck, 41.

ME3 Ngo said he was proud and honoured to represent the 8th Flotilla in winning an award for the rapid hull damage repair patch, which will be implemented across RSN’s ships by end-2024.