Recruitment for Cyber NSF and Cyber Military Expert Schemes

36 Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked the Minister for Defence (a) whether he can provide an update on the recruitment rate for the Cyber NSF Scheme and the Cyber Military Experts Scheme; and (b) what are the measures to attract more cyber talents to the Ministry to support digital defence.

Dr Ng Eng Hen: The Cyber NSF scheme was introduced in 2018, to attract and train Full-time National Service (NSF) personnel with the requisite interest, aptitude and skills to be Cyber Specialists. Successful applicants receive undergraduate work-learn programmes and on-the-job training which is sponsored, after which they are deployed in various roles to defend networks and systems within Mindef and the SAF. From inception, about 170 NSFs have been enrolled through the scheme over a period of two years. The proportion of successful applicants is about 23%.

As with other vocations, these cyber NSFs complement regulars who serve as SAF Command, Control, Communications and Computers Experts (C4X) or the non-uniformed Defence Cyber Expert (DCX). Over the past year, more than 150 personnel have been recruited to these two vocations.

Again, as with all science and technology based vocations, there are programs for upstream cultivation to promote awareness and interest in the realm of cyber defence. To this end, the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) has organized Cyberthon competitions and Cyber Defenders Discovery Camp. This year’s virtually-held Cyber Defenders Discovery Camp attracted a record participation of 3,200 youth, ranging from secondary school students to university undergraduates. It is our hope that some amongst them will be inspired to join MINDEF and the SAF as cyber vocationlists.

We will continue to enhance these initiatives and develop new ones so as to build up a cyber workforce to defend our digital borders.