It looks like the good old days of doing things the tedious way in the military in Singapore is becoming obsolete.

This was after a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) infantry officer successfully developed a "Soldier App" and made it into a working prototype that is functioning and adopted for use by some who are undergoing National Service now.

Screen shots of the app was put up on Facebook by YC Choy on Feb. 22, 2019:

According to the post, the app was a ground-up effort by Choy and others, as "a few things bug me about how we do things in our Army on the ground", the post said.

Smart phones galore

The fundamental impetus for making an app for SAF soldiers is to tap into the ubiquity of smart phone technology these days.

By building an app, it can then be used to consolidate, organise and disseminate training information efficiently, which does away with physical paper, and availing what is known to lower ranked men in NS.

This keeps them abreast about what is happening so they can be more involved, and consequently, feel more responsible about what has been planned.

The app can also be used to methodically track one's individual fitness progress and fulfill goals.

In all, the app took one year to create.

What the app wants to correct

The app essentially supports three functions.

1. Provide information on key activities forecast and their completion.

2. Indicate what are the badges earned by the soldiers (such as individual, milestones, and roll of honour).

3. Track IPPT results for progress.

Such a basic development will see a shift away from the traditional inefficient method of using paper to keep records and transmit information, and give those in NS a sense of ownership as they will be privy to what is happening.

Response

According to Choy, the developers are still in the midst of collecting feedback from users about what other features to add into the app to improve its usability.

Feedback has been positive.

One of the newer suggested aspects incorporated is the countdown to end of phase and ORD -- which is perhaps one of the features that will keep soldiers using the app more often.

So far, commanders have also suggested workflow modules to minimise disparate paperwork, such as training records, application of leave, and approval for training programmes, Choy wrote.

NSmen app created by SAF

But it is not as if the SAF has not been busy developing their own app for soldiers.

In June 2018, an official app was already created by the SAF for ICT NSmen.

Hailed as an ICT app, it looks set to be rolled out to more soldiers in earnest starting in 2019.

It will provide information such as what to pack for ICT, and give a glimpse of the training schedule in advance so that NSmen will not be in the dark about what is expected, and they can better plan their time if they need to take a day off to attend to work.

As the app encourages NSmen to be more mobile, those in ICT can also give feedback to questionnaires via the app.

In the past, it was done on paper in big groups together as a whole.