29 Jun, 6pm and 7pm

To achieve Singapore’s vision of a smart nation, its people need to keep up with developments in the area of defence and security – Permanent Secretary for Defence Development Neo Kian Hong said this at a press conference at the closing of the three-day Singapore Defence Technology Summit.

Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) Neo Kian Hong:

“One is understanding the technology; second is understanding the policies and the regulations; and thirdly, it’s educating the people. You need all three pieces to move in tandem. Otherwise, if somebody is left behind, it will be very difficult.”

Mr Neo also highlighted the importance of the inaugural summit in the Asia-Pacific region.

Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) Neo Kian Hong:

“Shangri-La Dialogue talks about defence security policies, but when we look at this region, there is a gap in defence technology. So many of the participants, when we asked them ‘Why did you choose to come?’ and they said ‘Well, Asia is emerging’. And I think this is one reason.”

Notable areas of discussion among delegates include artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet-of-Things, and there are plans for future editions.

29 Jun, 6pm and 7pm

To achieve Singapore’s vision of a smart nation, its people need to keep up with developments in the area of defence and security – Permanent Secretary for Defence Development Neo Kian Hong said this at a press conference at the closing of the three-day Singapore Defence Technology Summit.

Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) Neo Kian Hong:

“One is understanding the technology; second is understanding the policies and the regulations; and thirdly, it’s educating the people. You need all three pieces to move in tandem. Otherwise, if somebody is left behind, it will be very difficult.”

Mr Neo also highlighted the importance of the inaugural summit in the Asia-Pacific region.

Permanent Secretary (Defence Development) Neo Kian Hong:

“Shangri-La Dialogue talks about defence security policies, but when we look at this region, there is a gap in defence technology. So many of the participants, when we asked them ‘Why did you choose to come?’ and they said ‘Well, Asia is emerging’. And I think this is one reason.”

Notable areas of discussion among delegates include artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet-of-Things, and there are plans for future editions.

As technologies brings new opportunities for governments and commercial companies, they also bring along new challenges. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean says that while searching for new solutions, governments, commercial companies and academia also need to strengthen collaboration to resolve the issues.

Commercially available drones are becoming more affordable and advanced. In light of this, they have been used by criminals to smuggle illicit goods and by terrorists to drop bombs. Speaking at the inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean says defence and security agencies around the world are barely keeping pace with such threats posed by technology. Thus, there is a need to share knowledge.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean: “Governments, industries and academia need to share strategies and knowledge. And we must start the conversation now to address governance and ethical concerns related to the use of these technologies.”

At the Summit, the Republic and the United Kingdom renewed an agreement for the next 10 years to conduct joint defence research and technology development. The Defence Science and Technology Agency, or DSTA, also signed two agreements. One was with Boeing to jointly develop a tool to analyse data from Singapore’s air force fleet for predictive analytics like smart maintenance. And another was with Airbus to pool their engineering expertise in areas like data analytics, virtual reality and 3D printing.

As technologies brings new opportunities for governments and commercial companies, they also bring along new challenges. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean says that while searching for new solutions, governments, commercial companies and academia also need to strengthen collaboration to resolve the issues.

Commercially available drones are becoming more affordable and advanced. In light of this, they have been used by criminals to smuggle illicit goods and by terrorists to drop bombs. Speaking at the inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean says defence and security agencies around the world are barely keeping pace with such threats posed by technology. Thus, there is a need to share knowledge.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean: “Governments, industries and academia need to share strategies and knowledge. And we must start the conversation now to address governance and ethical concerns related to the use of these technologies.”

At the Summit, the Republic and the United Kingdom renewed an agreement for the next 10 years to conduct joint defence research and technology development. The Defence Science and Technology Agency, or DSTA, also signed two agreements. One was with Boeing to jointly develop a tool to analyse data from Singapore’s air force fleet for predictive analytics like smart maintenance. And another was with Airbus to pool their engineering expertise in areas like data analytics, virtual reality and 3D printing.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean has called for more collaboration to tackle security challenges posed by technology, with governments and commercial operators struggling to find solutions. He made the point at the inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit, which saw Singapore ink agreements with the UK and aircraft companies.

Commercially available drones are becoming more affordable and advanced. In light of this, they have been used by criminals to smuggle illicit goods and by terrorists to drop bombs. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean says defence and security agencies around the world are barely keeping pace with such threats posed by technology. Thus, there is a need to share knowledge.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean: “As economies become more integrated and connected digitally, governments, companies and academia need to form partnerships to better address issues that cut across sectors and national boundaries. The more interconnected we are, and the more we rely on key nodes and critical infrastructures, the higher the concentration risks. And these can result in not just a local disruption but potentially a system-wide or even a global one.”

At the Summit, the Republic and the United Kingdom renewed an agreement for the next 10 years to conduct joint defence research and technology development.

UK MOD Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Hugh Durrant-Whyte: “We are very interested in the area of maritime autonomy, so the ability to which we can bring machine learning, AI and robotics to the marine domain. We both have common problems in changing demographics in terms of the way we could crew ships, Singapore has done a lot of very impressive work in the area already. At the same time, we need to use those assets to protect trade routes and so on, and the UK has many years of experience of doing this.”

The Defence Science and Technology Agency, or DSTA, also signed two agreements. One was with Boeing to jointly develop a tool to analyse data from Singapore’s air force fleet for predictive analytics like smart maintenance. And another was with Airbus to pool their engineering expertise in areas like virtual reality. On display at the event was a new fleet management system developed by DSTA, which will help the Singapore Armed Forces track their military assets and optimise their performance.

DSTA Principal Engineer (Enterprise IT) Ho Chi Ming: "Our SAF defense systems are becoming increasingly complex to maintain and there's a need to better optimise our operating expenditure. Some of the system health data from our platforms can actually be used to develop predictive maintenance models to help us detect system failures early."

The platform is on trial, and the first phase of implementation will be completed by the end of the year.

The inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit kicked off this evening and some 400 delegates from 15 countries are here to exchange knowledge on military technology.

This three-day event, which is organised by Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency, aims to gather defence experts from around the world to network and increase Singapore’s access to new ideas. The theme for the summit is the “Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Defence and Security”. Now basically it will look at how technology is blurring the lines between our physical and virtual worlds. Some topics that will be discussed include the potential of artificial intelligence and the ethical implications of allowing machines to make decisions. Another topic would be how data can be harnessed to, for example, pre-empt terrorist attacks. Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen gave the welcome address at the opening dinner on Wednesday evening, but he highlighted the opportunity and risk that emerging technologies can bring.

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen:

“The Singapore Armed Forces has also begun our journey in the deployment of artificial intelligence. For example, unmanned watchtowers watch over key installations here like Jurong Island, a petrochemical hub. These unmanned watchtowers combine inputs from a range of sensors, utilise machine learning to improve their ability to detect and identify threats, and cue operational responses. How do we ensure that new technologies do not undermine our collective security?”

Almost 40 international experts will lead a series of plenary and breakout sessions throughout the event.

The inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit kicked off this evening and some 400 delegates from 15 countries are here to exchange knowledge on military technology.

This three-day event, which is organised by Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency, aims to gather defence experts from around the world to network and increase Singapore’s access to new ideas. The theme for the summit is the “Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Defence and Security”. Now basically it will look at how technology is blurring the lines between our physical and virtual worlds. Some topics that will be discussed include the potential of artificial intelligence and the ethical implications of allowing machines to make decisions. Another topic would be how data can be harnessed to, for example, pre-empt terrorist attacks. Defence Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen gave the welcome address at the opening dinner on Wednesday evening, but he highlighted the opportunity and risk that emerging technologies can bring.

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen:

“The Singapore Armed Forces has also begun our journey in the deployment of artificial intelligence. For example, unmanned watchtowers watch over key installations here like Jurong Island, a petrochemical hub. These unmanned watchtowers combine inputs from a range of sensors, utilise machine learning to improve their ability to detect and identify threats, and cue operational responses. How do we ensure that new technologies do not undermine our collective security?”

Almost 40 international experts will lead a series of plenary and breakout sessions throughout the event.

The inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit has kicked off. Some 400 delegates from 15 countries gathered in Singapore to exchange knowledge on military technology. The theme for the summit is the “Impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on Defence and Security”. Speaking at the opening dinner, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen highlighted the opportunity and risk that emerging technologies can bring. The three-day summit is organised by the Defence Science and Technology Agency.

The inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit will be held over three days starting this Wednesday at Shangri-La Hotel. Over 400 policymakers, industry experts and academics from 15 countries will meet to discuss new opportunities for military technology. The theme of the summit is the impact of technology on defence and security, and 38 global experts and luminaries are expected to lead a series of plenary and breakout sessions over the three-day conference. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will be delivering keynote addresses at the event. The Defence Science and Technology Agency says it hopes the summit will spur further innovation.

DSTA Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) Hor Gar Yin: “Artificial Intelligence is a new area, data analytics, as well as robotics, so most of these technology can help us to reduce manpower to be able to sift data from massive databases as well as to help in analytics to better our support for systems that we deliver to the SAF.”

The inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit begins on Wednesday at Shangri-La Hotel. Over 400 policymakers, industry experts and academics from 15 countries will meet to discuss new opportunities for military technology. The summit’s theme is the impact of technology on defence and security. Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will be delivering keynote addresses. The Defence Science and Technology Agency says it hopes the summit will spur further innovation.

DSTA Deputy Chief Executive (Operations) Hor Gar Yin: “Artificial Intelligence is a new area, data analytics, as well as robotics, so most of these technology can help us to reduce manpower to be able to sift data from massive databases as well as to help in analytics to better our support for systems that we deliver to the SAF.”