SAFE IN YOUR HANDS

Safety lies in your own hands - literally. With the Army Safety App, commanders can quickly check on important information such as weather conditions, location of nearby medical facilities and route information - all on their Android smartphones.

The aim? To put safety-related information at soldiers' fingertips, said Mr Benjamin Zee, who is with the iForce office, Joint Communications and Information Systems Department (JCISD). His office works with ground units to turn their ideas into workable mobile apps, providing the technical expertise and advice.

The app provides detailed weather information including lightning risk classifications, the Pollutants Standard Index (PSI) and weather forecasts. Emergency information is also listed - hospital locations and telephone numbers can be dialled straight from the app. It also provides routing information to these facilities.

"While it (the app) does not replace any existing safety measures, it functions as a convenient and complementary source of information," said Captain (CPT) Muhd Noor Ehsan from the Army Safety Inspectorate (ASI).

And it does not only provide information. Spot a safety hazard? Inform the ASI through the app. Though the app was just launched on 11 Apr, the team behind it is already dreaming up of ways to improve it.

"One of the things we are looking into doing is increasing the back-end infrastructure (to support the app)." said Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Gene Tan from Headquarters Signals (HQ Signals). Once complete, it opens many doors for the app to mature and evolve.

A quick run-through the app revealed a zippy interface with large, easily readable icons. That is clearly a boon for soldiers, who will likely access the information while training outdoors.

The development team of eight, spread across three departments, are looking at an active user base of roughly 4,000. The app is only available to Army commanders.

"For example, we can add an analytics engine to help us make better sense of hazard reports," explained LTC Tan. The reporting feature is currently a simple email set-up where users can provide their inputs directly to the ASI.

The safety app, which took just under a year to develop, was a collaboration between three groups in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

iForce provided the technical know-how, ASI provided operational perspectives and HQ Signals looked into the infrastructure needed to support the app. "This is the first time these three groups in the SAF have come together to produce an app of this scale," said LTC Tan.

Much of the actual work on the app was done by three iForce Full-time National Servicemen. Said Corporal (CPL) Lee Zheng Xian, "Most of the challenge was making sure that the app functioned well across the different Android phones."

Being an open source OS, Android phones come in all shapes and sizes each running their own version of the Android OS. Their solution - test the app on the most popular Android phones available on the market and adjust the codes accordingly. "It was a tedious process but also necessary to ensure that the app works properly," said CPL Lee.

Said their supervisor Mr Zee: "The value of this app is the sum of all its features. It's an everyday app. It's all at your fingertips."