Huge investments being made in tech, but security remains a concern: Ng Eng Hen

SINGAPORE: Research and development (R&D) programmes in the defence arena have produced applications that have improved the lives of society at large, but even as the pace of innovation increases, security risks and moral dilemmas remain, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Wednesday (Jun 27).

Dr Ng, in his welcome speech at the inaugural Singapore Defence Technology Summit here, cited the example of the United States government’s ARPANET programme in 1969 as one that has made such a mark. The ARPANET was a network built to be resilient in the event of nuclear attacks, yet has evolved to become the Internet as we know it today, he said.

He also pointed to the huge investments being made in technology, both by Government and the private sector. In fact, private sector funding in R&D hit a record high of S$702 billion last year, more than how much governments spent.

In the US and Europe, the ratio of private to public sector investments in R&D is about 2:1, while the ratio in China is 3:1. In terms of geographical spread, Asian companies’ R&D spending has “more than quadrupled over the past decade”, while China now has the second-largest R&D spending in the world, the Defence Minister added.

“The discovery and application of new technology are shifting to new epicentres from the US and Europe, to the Middle East and Asia,” Dr Ng noted.

Singapore, too, has participated in the trend. He said that the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing are collaborating in digital technologies like 3D printing and data analytics.

The Singapore Armed Forces is also deploying artificial intelligence in, for instance, its unmanned watch towers that monitor key installations like Jurong Island, he added.

However, while these changes spell good news for the private sector, there are also risks and dilemmas to confront, the minister said.

“How do we ensure that new technologies do not undermine our collective security?” Dr Ng said.

He pointed to terrorists using encrypted messenger apps to orchestrate plots and data privacy violations by social media platforms as some of the challenges society has to deal with as a result.

“These are tough questions and moral dilemmas to address, with often no easy or cost-free answers,” the minister said, adding that he hopes the summit will play a role in helping countries deal with the “many blessings and challenges” technological disruptions will bring in their wake.