Open Innovation Platform 2022 – Call (13)

HANDS-FREE DIGITAL ACCESS FOR A SEAMLESS

AND INTERACTIVE GUEST EXPERIENCE
CONTEXT
Mandai Wildlife Group (MWG) manages world-leading zoological institutions like the
Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Wonders and Jurong Bird Park that aim to inspire people to
value and conserve biodiversity by providing meaningful and memorable wildlife experiences.
Each year, the attractions welcome over 4.6 million visitors locally and internationally.

MWG is set to become bigger and better as it expands its attractions across five zoological
parks. As visitors gets unprecedented access to nature on such a big scale, MWG is seeking a
hassle-free digital token to help guests better interact, experience and explore the parks in a
more seamless and integrated experience. MWG wants to unlock more magical moments for
visitors, starting with a smart gadget that can enable:

- Hands-free access and navigation: Currently, there are many physical touchpoints
for guests across the various wildlife parks and attractions. Guests have separate
admission tickets for each park and ticketed attractions and zones. The ideal solution
should provide a hassle-free and seamless access across the parks, so guests can focus
on touring and enjoying the attractions instead of busying themselves to get the right
ticket access.

- Smart payments: Each park has various food & beverage, merchandise and
purchasable add-ons (e.g. tram rides, meet-and-greet feeding sessions). However,
guests may not have access to their phones or wallet all the time (e.g. water adventures,
thrill rides, kids without phones), which makes it difficult to purchase items or make
reservations as needed. The ideal solution should provide a unified cashless payment
for all visitors across the parks.

- Ubiquitous awareness for a personalised park experience: Visitors currently do not

have real-time visibility over crowd densities and wait time for each attraction. This
often means much time is spent queuing for attractions or walking between attractions
in search for one with a shorter wait time. The ideal solution should help guests plan
and personalise their park experience by providing smart itinerary recommendations,
based on real-time park insights (e.g. attraction wait time and crowd density) and each
guest’s interest and needs (especially for returning visitors).

- Smart operations: Such real-time guest insights can also help the operational team
optimise park operations based on real-time activity, such as understanding common
visitor routes and attractions so MWG can send additional tram rides to attractions
with high visitor density or station more park ushers.

In all, MWG is keen to provide guests with a fuss-free method of enjoying the park from
admission, attraction booking, payments and more. By integrating and digitalising the guests’
customer journey via a single, hands-free solution, guests can unlock an even better
 Open Innovation Platform 2022 – Call (13)

experience across the different MWG parks. Overall, the guest experience for visitors should
be enhanced such that they are incentivised to return while attracting new visitors.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we provide guests with a smart, integrated wildlife park experience through a
hands-free digital pass?

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

A working prototype solution that allows guests to seamlessly access, navigate and enjoy the
attractions across MWG’s various wildlife parks.
The solution should include the following features:
 Unique visitor identification: Allow guests to access the parks and attractions, make
reservations and payments within the park easily, so they can experience the full
Mandai attractions via a single gadget. It should be light-weight and easy to carry
around and not compromising the guest’s experience.
o Solution providers are welcome to propose the preferred form of the gadget,
such as single-use wristbands, reusable wristbands or take-home souvenir
wristbands. In their proposals, solution providers should note the sustainability,
operational and cost considerations.
o It would be ideal if the solution could be easily embedded into other forms
such as plushies or soft tokens on phones, for future use cases.

 Smart payment: Allow cashless payments (e.g. via QR codes or NFC) and top-ups for
seamless payments within the park, and minimally integrated with the main payment
methods in Singapore. Solutions able to integrate with foreign payment methods are
preferred.

 Data collection for insights analysis: Data such as time spent at an attraction,
purchases made (e.g., F&B, merchandise, gifts), movement and crowd density should
be collected for analysis. This should help MWG to enhance and improve the guest
experience for their visitors.

 Personalised visitor experience: With the insights gathered from the data, individual
profiles of guests can be built with information like their past purchase history,
favourite exhibit, etc. These profiles will allow MWG to understand their guests and
provide a tailored experience for returning visitors by recommending a more
personalised guest journey. This will also improve crowd control and help guests
navigate through parks better.

Overall Performance Requirements

 Intuitive. Users should be able to use the solution easily, with a simple and easy-to-
understand user interface.
 Portable and light weight. Visitors should be able to bring the solution with them as they
navigate through the attractions, without compromising their overall experience.
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 Durable. The solution should be child-friendly, sweat resistant and water resistant as
visitors would be exposed to both indoor and outdoor elements.
 Seamless. The different features and functions listed above should provide an overall
integrated and seamless digital experience.
 Secure. Data collected from the visitors should be protected from unauthorised disclosure
so that visitors trust the solution with their information.
 Customisable. The solution should be extendible to support future growth without the
need of heavy customisation or support requests.
There are no restrictions on the geographical location of the problem solvers who may choose
to apply to this challenge. However, the prototype must be demonstrated in Singapore.

POSSIBLE USE CASES

1. Seamless visitor experience. John, who goes to the zoo for the first time, will enjoy an
optimal experience with the solution. The solution allows him to access everything he needs
within the attraction – scanning his admission ticket, payments for F&B and merchandise,
reservations, etc., without the hassle of carrying physical tickets and currency. John can
enjoy the park attractions without having to toggle between his wallet, physical ticket and
reservations. John can get more out of his visit as the solution provides him with smart
itinerary recommendations to minimise wait time. For example, if he sees that the panda
exhibit has a 90-minute wait time, he will know to go to another attraction that only has a
5-minute wait time so that he can maximise his time.

On his subsequent visits, he receives updates on changes of his favourite exhibitions. Based
on his past purchase history, the solution also alerts him to new merchandises that he likes
(e.g. panda related merchandise).

2. Smart park operations. With a richer understanding of visitor profile and activity (e.g. real-
time density of attractions, frequent routes taken by visitors), Amy from MWG can more
effectively deploy her operation teams to ensure smoother operations. For example, when
she notices that there is a high crowd density at certain attractions, she may choose to
deploy more ushers and trams to redirect guests to other attraction zones.

Overtime, these operational insights also help her identify guest patterns (e.g. more families
visit on Saturday afternoons rather than Saturday nights) to better plan operations from the
get-go.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU

 SGD 50,000 of prize money for each winner of this challenge (see Award Model)
 Membership into the Mandai Co-Innovation Programme
 Access to Mandai community and access to insights, industry engagement and take
part in Mandai Innovation Forum and Festival
 Access to IMDA’s Technology resources and facility for prototyping
 Access to expertise related to the project, and test resources
 Be a co-developer or supplier with/for MWG to commercialise solution
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
The Applicants shall be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out below.

Solution Fit  To what extent does the proposed solution address

the problem statement effectively?

Solution Readiness  How ready is the proposed solution to go to the

market?
 Is there any evidence to suggest capacity to scale?

Solution Advantage  Is the solution cost effective and truly innovative?

 Does it make use of new technologies in the market,
and can it potentially generate new IP?
 What is the estimated cost for pilot trial, deployment
and software support?

Company Profile  Does the product have user and revenue traction?
 Do the team members possess strong
scientific/technical background?
 Is the company able to demonstrate the financial
capability and resources to complete the prototype?

AWARD MODEL
30% of the prize money will be awarded to each selected finalist at the start of the
POC/prototype development process, with the remainder 70% to be awarded after completion
of the POC/prototype solution, based on milestones agreed between Problem Owner(s) and
the solver. Prize money will be inclusive of any applicable taxes and duties that any of the
parties may incur.

Note that a finalist who is selected to undertake the prototype will be required to enter into
an agreement with Problem Owner(s) that will include more detailed conditions pertaining to
the POC/prototype. Shortlisted finalists will be invited to attend a half-day workshop on 18
August 2022 and present during the Pitch Day on 25 August 2022.Teams with public research
performers are required to seek an endorsement from their respective innovation and
enterprise office, and submit the attached IEO form together with the proposal.

DEADLINE
All submissions must be made by 29th July 2022, 1600 hours (SGT/GMT +8). Problem
Owner(s) and IMDA may extend the deadline of the submission at their discretion. Late
submissions on the OIP, or submissions via GeBIZ, will not be considered.