Singapore Airlines opens Digital Innovation Lab

Singapore Airlines has formally opened its digital innovation lab, known as KrisLab recently.

KrisLab is designed to serve as a collaborative workspace for SIA Group staff to develop innovative ideas and co-innovate with external partners, start-ups, established incubators and accelerators.

Technology such as blockchain, mixed reality devices, artificial intelligence and data analytics, among others, are used and explored by staff as they develop their digital initiatives.  “The launch of KrisLab is a significant step forward in our digital transformation journey and encapsulates our ambition to be the leading digital airline in the world,” said Singapore Airlines CEO  Goh Choon Phong. “We are fully committed to further enhancing our digital capabilities by providing the right tools and infrastructure for staff to develop their ideas, as well as collaborating with external partners and start-ups to help solve business challenges.” Staff may submit ideas and solutions for evaluation by the Digital Innovation Lab team based on technological and implementation readiness, as well as market and strategic attractiveness.

Once an idea has been approved, seed funding along with expertise provided by the Digital Innovation Lab team is provided to help further develop it into a prototype, before moving to the implementation stage. One of the many innovations currently being explored at KrisLab involves the use of virtual reality technology to allow SIA’s designers to step on board and explore or change future cabin design concepts quickly. Aside from helping employees develop their innovation ideas to fruition, the Digital Innovation Lab team has been working with research institutions such as A*STAR and NUS on research in deep-tech areas. It is hoped that this will give SIA a competitive edge in areas such as revenue management, smart seats, virtual training, and predictive maintenance for aircraft, among others.