Virtual Reality and Training for Emergency Responders in a Post-COVID-19 Era
Organizer: Singapore Civil Defense Force
| The landscape of training for the emergency response fraternity has evolved in parallel with the development of technology, from the advent of computers and the proliferation of digital and immersive technologies. Innovation in the area of tactical and command training continually enhances safety and operational outcomes of emergency responders – training and learning now transcend spatial and temporal boundaries, and is increasingly data-driven and digitalised with new training technologies and tools for training delivery. Inevitably, global disruption brought about by COVID-19 has accelerated the pace and degree at which training and learning – even for the traditionally physical domain of emergency response – has had to “go digital” and virtualise training programmes en masse. Amid the challenges of such acute changes, the opportunity has emerged to broach a new paradigm in this future of training and learning for emergency response. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has come a long way since introducing computer-based learning and testing into the training programmes in the 1990s in the 1990s for both professional emergency responders as well as the extended ecosystem of industry and community partners. In this session, SCDF will share the key learning points from the journey of continual transformation in training and learning, having developed and employed a spectrum of new technologies over the years, with many lessons learnt along the way. This is complemented by a showcase of the Advanced Command Training System (ACTS) which provides simulation training for command and control in conjunction with XVR, a partner of SCDF in the area of developing and implementing training and simulation technologies. SCDF will also share how COVID-19 has been a catalyst in digitalising training and learning in the rapid scaling-up of VR and other digital and immersive training platforms in the context of SCDF, as well as the roadmap of development for the future of training in SCDF through close collaboration with a strong ecosystem of partners. The session will discuss the benefits, implications and challenges that emergency response organisations may experience as this new paradigm of training and learning for emergency response looks to carry forward strongly into the post-COVID era. Lastly, the session will conclude with a panel discussion with key senior members of the training and learning fraternity in SCDF, who will be sharing their experience and vision for the transformation and future of training in emergency response. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has come a long way since introducing computer-based learning and testing into the training programmes in the 1990s in the 1990s for both professional emergency responders as well as the extended ecosystem of industry and community partners. In this session, SCDF will share the key learning points from the journey of continual transformation in training and learning, having developed and employed a spectrum of new technologies over the years, with many lessons learnt along the way. This is complemented by a demonstration of the Advanced Command Training System (ACTS) which provides simulation training for command and control in conjunction with XVR, a partner of SCDF in the area of developing and implementing training and simulation technologies. SCDF will also share how COVID-19 has been a catalyst in digitalising training and learning in the rapid scaling-up of VR and other digital and immersive training platforms in the context of SCDF, as well as the roadmap of development for the future of training in SCDF through close collaboration with a strong ecosystem of partners. The session will discuss the benefits, implications and challenges that emergency response organisations may experience as this new paradigm of training and learning for emergency response looks to carry forward strongly into the post-COVID era. Lastly, the session will conclude with a panel discussion with key senior members of the training and learning fraternity in SCDF, who will be sharing their experience and vision for the transformation and future of training in emergency response. |
Speaker:
Soon Huat Lee, Head of Responder Performance Centre