MINDEF and the SAF Empower Personnel to Innovate to Push Operational Boundaries

Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen was the Guest-of-Honour at the IGNITE Innovation Symposium 2023 (IIS23) held at the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) this morning, where he presented awards to the Minister for Defence Award (MDA) recipients. A total of 45 awards were presented to individuals, teams and units from across MINDEF and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) in recognition of their innovations and work improvement efforts. These innovations lead to a safer operational environment and a man-hour saving of more than 500,000 hours, as well as contributing to a greener SAF.

Speaking at the awards presentation ceremony, Dr Ng commended the award recipients and their innovative spirit to drive MINDEF/SAF forward in a rapidly changing environment. He said, “We will always need that innovative spirit of the men and women in our organisation to make sure that our platforms and systems function and are optimised against different scenarios… this attitude of never accepting things as they are and overcoming obstacles that arise are crucial, not only to improve our day-to-day workings but indeed to win battles and wars… We have to keep this innovative spirit alive, and this is the core purpose of IGNITE. It is not just good to have but completely necessary for mission success.”

Dr Ng highlighted the importance of people empowerment and a conducive environment to promote innovation in MINDEF/SAF. He added that leaders should always review the work processes that can be improved, and encouraged them to act on the idea and actualise it.

IIS23 aims to recognise the achievements and contributions of units and personnel in innovation as well as to provide a platform for learning and meaningful discussions across MINDEF/SAF and with partners to co-create new ideas. The theme, “Empowering Our People, Designing Our Future” signifies MINDEF/SAF’s commitment to empower innovation through the proliferation of Design Thinking tools and competencies, and ambition to translate innovation into impactful and future-oriented actions.

Also present at the awards presentation ceremony were Permanent Secretary for Defence Mr Chan Heng Kee, Chief of Defence Force Vice Admiral Aaron Beng, as well as senior officials from MINDEF and the SAF.