Middle East - Cyber Salons

Middle East Cyber Salon

14 December 2021 | 10:00-11:45 GMT+4

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Overview

The Middle East is at the forefront of technological development and digital transformation, particularly in relation to the roll-out of smart cities and other IoT-related ecosystems. Enabling this digital transformation is the shift to and utilisation of the cloud, where scale and deployment can be achieved at accelerated rates.

However, the digital transformation of economies demands high levels of regulatory oversight and cooperation between industry, policymakers, and other stakeholders. A strong focus on cyber security and data privacy is key to ensuring trust and confidence in these new systems, products, and services.

As the global nature of cloud technology continues to evolve, the challenge in establishing data sovereignty to meet national and regional regulations is complex.

In this latest session of the Cyber Security Salons, speakers will assess the challenges and opportunities for governments and stakeholders across the Middle East region as they embark on and continue their digital transformation journeys.

Key questions will include:

As the pandemic has accelerated the demand for an already growing market for cloud services, what are the most important regulatory issues that policymakers across the Middle East are dealing with to enable and secure the digital transformation?
With the concept of data sovereignty high on the agenda for many countries in the Middle East, how can regulators ensure complexity does not harm innovation, and how can industry support countries to deliver data sovereignty?
How can governments and stakeholders work to deliver clarity and certainty over data transfer requirements as cloud adoption becomes the default?
What is the state of cyber and cloud security cooperation between governments and agencies in the Middle East region, and where would improvement be helpful and necessary?
With regards to cyber-attacks and incidents, how can trust and information sharing across regions, countries, and sectors be enhanced?

Participants will come from national ministries, regulators, telecommunication operators, universities, telecommunication equipment manufacturers, research and design institutes, software developers and other interested stakeholders. Alongside the panel, the audience will have the opportunity to pose their questions and comments.

As with future editions in the series, the result will be a mapping of regional approaches, culminating in a discussion around developing closer global cooperation on cyber security.