OUR DIGITAL WORLD: AN INTRODUCTION
Planning a city requires an understanding of how different factors shape the ways in which people live, work, and
play. These factors include the economy, environment, infrastructure, mobility, and social needs. With this
knowledge, we can anticipate future demands, and craft policies and plans that enhance the vibrancy, resilience,
and competitiveness of a city.
Information may exist in different places or formats, and require manual cleaning and consolidation in order to
become usable. Today, with higher computing powers and capabilities, we are starting to unify and integrate silos
of information, allowing us to see spatial and temporal patterns at a glance and understand flows and
interdependencies within our dynamic urban system.
The Urban Lab presents some of the novel and innovative techniques and technologies with which government,
industry, and academia are experimenting. Many of these tools are still under development but we can already
imagine the ways in which they could enhance how we see, understand, and plan our cities. These range from
improving our understanding of the current situation, to testing ‘what if’ scenarios, to enabling community
participation. Join us to find out how these technologies might help us to plan more attractive and sustainable
cities!
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SENSING THE CITY
Online public forums and social media platforms are important places for city planners to ‘listen’ to the voices
of the public. These forms of user-generated data provide valuable indications of public opinion towards specific
policies and experience of services, as well as ways of keeping abreast of social trends. Finding ways to understand
public needs through sentiment analysis and smart survey methods could yield a wealth of useful data.
In the exhibition, we presented the National Science Experiment and three community initiatives: Food from
the Heart, “myResponder”, and HoodChampions.
National Science Experiment
Great scientific discoveries arise from curiosity and a desire to know the truth. The National Science Experiment
(NSE) is an island-wide outdoor science experiment that seeks to awaken an interest in science and technology
amongst young Singaporeans. From September to November 2015, over 43,000 students from 128 primary
schools, secondary schools, and junior colleges took part in the first phase.
The experiment involves students carrying a specially-designed sensing device, SENSg (pronounced “SENSESG”), to collect data on their mobility, as well as environmental data such as temperature, humidity, noise, air
pressure, light intensity, and infrared temperature. These data are transferred wirelessly to a central online
portal where students can view their results, as well as the aggregated data of fellow participants. Through this
experiment, students learn about big data and how it can be applied to manage real-world issues. The data also
provide meaningful insights for urban planners in terms of environment maps, Wi-Fi coverage, and travel
patterns.
The NSE is organised by the National Research Foundation Singapore and Ministry of Education, in partnership
with the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Science Centre Singapore, Agency for Science,
Technology and Research, the Singapore Land Authority, and OneMap Singapore.
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EMPOWERING THE COMMUNITY – CREATING SOCIAL VALUE
Digital technologies are changing the way we share resources, deliver services, and communicate. The ubiquity
of connected devices, and consequent explosion of data, is empowering human-centric innovation – where
people create solutions for people. In the exhibition, we presented some inspiring examples of community-based
applications that unlock the potential of digital technologies for social good.
Food from the Heart
Food from the Heart (FFTH) is a non-profit organisation that collects and redistributes unsold bread from
bakeries to welfare homes, senior activity centres, and underprivileged families across Singapore. The charity
relies on 1,700 active volunteers to deliver to 156 locations in Singapore. When regular volunteers are
unavailable, it can be difficult finding a replacement. A group of five friends have created a mobile app to solve
this problem. “Volunteer Broadcast System” enables FFTH to send push notifications to a wide pool of available
volunteers, reducing the time it takes to find a replacement. This process is enabled by simple geo-locating
software that allows crowd-sourced information to be geographically tagged. By geo-tagging the availability of
volunteers according to specific areas, FFTH is able to allocate and deploy volunteers quickly and effectively.
The mobile app uses OneMap Singapore as its base map. OneMap Singapore is an integrated geospatial platform
that provides location-based information to the public. The team who developed the “Volunteer Broadcast
System” was one of eight winners of the GeoHackathon 2014, a competition organised by the Singapore Land
Authority to encourage the use of geospatial technology in solving societal problems.
“myResponder”
Smartphones with GPS technology can save lives. In Singapore, there are over 1,900 cases of cardiac arrest and
rising annually. Every minute without CPR reduces your chance of survival by 10%. Every minute counts! The
myResponder app helps the 995 dispatchers geolocate you with the push of a button, thereby reducing the time
to respond. Users of GPS-enabled smartphones, whom are CPR-trained, can sign up to receive alerts if they are
within close proximity of a cardiac arrest patient. The myResponder app notifies volunteers of the victim’s
location and nearest Automated External Defibrillators so that they can help the patient before the emergency
services arrive. Hardware, software, and a lot of heartware is what it takes to make our communities safer from
cardiac arrest!
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HoodChampions
HoodChampions (formerly known as BlockPooling.sg) is an Internet platform that connects people living in the
same neighbourhood through competitions. Launched in March 2016, HoodChampions has organised two
national events to date: Singlish Charades and The Morning Greeters Run. Seven teams from across Singapore
took part in Singlish Charades, with Choa Chu Kang taking first prize thanks to their enthusiastic acting and
guessing! The Morning Greeters Run involved teams of joggers wishing residents “Good Morning” on their
journey around local neighbourhoods. With opportunities to win prizes and money for charity, HoodChampions
is a fun way to make new friends and give back to your community.
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