CNG had the opportunity to speak exclusively to His Excellency Amer Sharaf CEO of the Cyber Security Services and Systems at the Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) in advance of the Global Government Cloud Forum that took place on the 21st of January in the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
In his principal role H.E Amer Sharaf provides the guidance for his department to deliver the systems that would help observe and protect the government network of Dubai and their services. As a regulator of the Emirate of Dubai when it comes to cybersecurity, DESC provides all the policies to help shape and secure the government networks and the data within it. They also provide the systems necessary for the security and cybersecurity that is required to protect their valuable city.
Hosting the Global Government Cloud Forum was very significant as a joint effort with the World Bank under a working group that is called the GovTech Working Group.
A cloud computing initiative looking after many interesting areas when it comes to security availability of cloud services for the governments specifically.
The Cloud Forum under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum the second deputy ruler of Dubai the Dubai Electronic Security Center, had international recognition as the premier Cloud Forum to take place in collaboration with the World Bank’
One hundred government officials and over 50 speakers, 30 leaders in the government cloud technology from across the world converged to Dubia, the main purpose and aim of the cloud computing forum was to harness its vast potential of the cloud and drive innovation and advance the digital economy.
The Museum of the Future was a fitting venue to discuss cloud services and cloud cybersecurity as these are two key areas that governments would like to better understand and unfold when it comes to their services. How secure are they? What is being provided? and how do you provide that assurance so that they can onboard cloud services? That’s why the forum had been created so that all participants could investigate the challenges and find solutions for them.
The forum focused on how cloud technologies can transform public administration, improve governance, and support sustainable development across the globe. It also explored vital topics such as AI, which is the talk of the year and last year, IoT, quantum computing, sustainable cloud solutions, and cloud development, all aligning with the Dubai economic agenda that was set by the leadership of the D33, Dubai economic agenda set to make Dubai a global leader in technology and innovation. This was indeed a great platform to discuss the many challenges that come with using cloud services.
Some of the key things that came out of this Global Forum, the bringing together of likeminded organizations together under one space so that they could network and discuss the potential challenges that they all have and exchange ideas on how they could overcome them.
Dubai is a global leading hub for technologies, and it’s always been at the forefront of advanced technology, while cybersecurity obviously is defined as an enabler from their perspective to push innovation. DESC wanted to provide a platform that is easy and ready to use. Dubai is one of the first cities in the region that has set clear regulations for the cloud providers.
To have those security metrics and requirements embedded into the many cloud-based technologies being provided. Through their cloud security policy, they have a full program that is transparent, allowing vendors to onboard their services in the city of Dubai by adhering to the internationally recognized requirements and security regulations.
In a nutshell His Excellency wanted to show that having a venue such as the Museum of the Future provided a platform to communicate and address these issues. To demonstrate what Dubai has done to date, having its cloud security policy in place since 2017, then refreshed in 2019, provides a clear vision for all their customers, being the government of Dubai and the vendors as to what’s needed for them to onboard to cloud services.
One of the many key deliverables that came out of this event had to be the working group workshop for the key government stakeholders, whilst the forum, through interactive presentations and discussions provided vital updates on various technologies such as the challenges with quantum and how security is overcoming that challenge, AI and green cloud.
With so much to take in and indeed retain DESC came out with a report published with the World Bank highlighting these challenges. This was one of the key outcomes and takeaways of the event.
Not to forget also the key importance is international collaboration. Delegates from across the globe came together sharing ideas. It’s a key metric of the cybersecurity strategy of DESC. Cybersecurity won’t work without likely minded organizations coming together and addressing challenges and finding solutions for them.
This event was a tremendous example of how real collaboration can work; tangible outcomes had been achieved and so many International Cloud experts left Dubai reinvigorated and highly motivated to make a difference.
We can only congratulate DESC and their entire senior leadership team for finding the time and providing the necessary resource to make this Global Forum a reality, exceptional planning and the execution of a seamless agenda and programme delivered by the organiser Plexus Group and every delegate that attended to debate, listen and learn from each other and their peers, this is the combination of what makes an event a truly tremendous event. Many congratulations to everyone. Cyber News Global cannot thank you enough for allowing Let’s Talk Cyber and CNG to be involved.
