Crisis Leadership Forum – Opening Address by Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs and Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs

Good morning distinguished speakers,

Participants,

Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen.


Introduction

1. Welcome to the 2026 Crisis Leadership Forum. On behalf of the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs, I warmly welcome our overseas speakers and participants to Singapore.

2. The nature of crisis is evolving. In today’s hyperconnected world, crises are no longer confined to specific domains such as environment or health. Instead, they affect multiple sectors at once. They are fast-moving, have disproportionate impact, and transcend borders. The COVID-19 pandemic exemplified this – a novel virus spread globally within months and triggered lockdowns that devastated economies. We see similar complexity and uncertainty today with the Middle East situation.

3. Our leadership must adapt to this evolving crisis landscape to safeguard and guide our people through any crisis.

4. This Crisis Leadership Forum is a vital platform for sharing and learning best practices from diverse perspectives. Today, I would like to highlight two crisis leadership practices essential for navigating modern crises.


Agile decision-making

5. The first practice is agile decision-making. During a crisis, leaders are faced with complex and fast-moving situations and are pressed to make swift decisions based on incomplete information.

6. Agile decision-making addresses this challenge through a structured yet flexible approach. Leaders must evaluate, implement, and review situations continuously to see what can be improved. This approach balances the need for quick decisions with the flexibility to pivot as situations evolve. It must be embedded in organisational culture for effective crisis management.

7. Agile decision-making proved particularly valuable during novel crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where initial information about the virus was limited and incomplete. Our mask-wearing policy demonstrated this. Taking guidance from the World Health Organisation, we initially advised the public that mask wearing was not necessary for healthy individuals. Once evidence of asymptomatic transmission emerged, we pivoted to mandate mask-wearing.


Integrating emerging technologies in crisis leadership

8. The second practice is integrating emerging technologies into crisis leadership. Decision-making during novel crises is difficult. To support this, leaders must invest in enhanced sensemaking and analytical capabilities through two key approaches.

9. First, we must strengthen our information networks. Enhanced networks enable earlier detection of crisis signals, strengthened analysis through shared expertise, and more innovative solutioning.

10. In a world that is becoming more fractured, both internationally and within societies, we must never lose sight of the importance of partnerships.

11. Second, we must leverage technology, particularly emerging technologies, as an enabler. Emerging technologies like Smart and Autonomous Systems help leaders navigate and succeed in a crisis, by optimising limited resources. As part of Singapore Civil Defence Force’s team sent to aid rescue efforts in Myanmar in March 2025, our Home Team Science and Technology Agency or HTX deployed the Insect-Hybrid Robot. It has a thermal camera, navigation sensors, and wireless communications. This robot can locate and alert rescuers to survivors trapped beneath collapsed structures, enhancing search capability while minimising risks to responders in hazardous environments.

12. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, or AI, also enhance crisis response coordination. AI can rapidly process voluminous data, to keep leaders informed for timely decision-making.

13. For example, our Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has implemented the ICON system. Using cameras, impact sensors and geo-location triangulation, it can detect when a vehicle attempts to evade clearance and highlight the nearest available resources to respond to the incident, enabling quick and effective incident management. This is one example of how technology combines sensemaking as well as command and control systems into an integrated system to aid command decisions during a crisis.

14. We will continue to explore the potential of emerging technologies to enhance decision-making during crisis. This means staying ahead of technological developments and testbedding their use in real-life situations. We will also invest in upskilling leaders and staff with technological and digital literacy capabilities.


Working with international partners

15. Singapore remains committed to staying at the forefront of integrating innovative approaches and emerging technologies into crisis leadership practices. This ensures that we can mitigate and are prepared for modern crises.

16. Strengthening information networks requires international partnerships for knowledge sharing on emerging issues and technologies. These partnerships enable collaborative problem-solving for mutual benefit, which is valuable as crises transcend borders.

17. In this more fractured world, we must develop partnerships by finding common ground despite our differences. The Crisis Leadership Forum supports this, by bringing together a diverse group to share crisis leadership practices and broaden perspectives. I met few of the speakers earlier, very hearty, they have come here and bring different perspectives, and it is something we can learn together, and I thank them for joining us and expanding the discussion platforms as well as what we can do as a global community to keep our world safe and secure.

18. This morning, we are honoured to invite the Australian Border Force to share their approach in navigating complexity and enabling sensemaking in crisis. We also have two Singapore speakers, from the Cybersecurity Agency and Ministry of Home Affairs, to address Singapore’s cybersecurity landscape and leadership insights for managing evolving and converging risks, as well as building resilient crisis-ready organisations, respectively.

19. The afternoon features masterclasses on integrating AI and emerging technologies into leadership practices, and agility and strategic decision-making in complex crises.

20. We also welcome public service officers, industry representatives, and experts from around the world to the forum. Our sharing and learning will strengthen crisis capabilities, build robust networks, and keep us abreast of developments in crisis leadership. This ensures that we are better prepared for evolving crisis challenges.

21. One example of a strong partnership is the Memorandum of Understanding which the Singapore Home Team Academy has signed with the Australian Border Force. This will help facilitate best practice sharing to improve our crisis leadership responses.


Conclusion

22. I have highlighted agile decision-making and emerging technology integration as essential leadership practices to adapt to the evolving nature of crisis. However, these practices alone are not enough for effective crisis leadership in evolving crisis situations. Technology is only an enabler. As leaders, we must keep learning from and working with each other to be better prepared for future, unforeseen crises.

23. To our speakers, thank you for sharing your experiences for our learning. Please join me to thank them for their support and participation.

24. And to all attendees, I encourage active networking and participation in this forum, so we can learn from each other’s experiences and build strong relationship networks. I hope that everyone enjoys the Crisis Leadership Forum and has a fruitful experience at the Milipol TechX Summit.

25. Thank you very much.