The Minister of Energy and Industry H E Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada (third left); the Minister of Information and Communications Technology H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber (fourth left); the Chairman of MEEZA and CEO of Investments at Qatar Foundation, Rashid Al Naimi (second left); the Secretary-General of International Telecommunication Union, Switzerland, Dr Hamadoun Toure (second right), and the CEO of MEEZA, Ghada El Rassi (right), at the opening of the GCC Digital Security Forum at the St Regis Hotel in Doha yesterday. Salim Matramkot
Doha: Qatar will step up efforts to enhance cyber security but will also ensure individuals’ privacy is protected.
“The issue of digital security is critical not just for our region, but also for the entire globe,” the Minister of Information and Communication Technology H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber told the GCC Digital Security Forum yesterday.
“We will pursue cyber security policies that enhance our security, but we will preserve our citizens’ right to privacy,” she added.
More than 500 delegates representing governments and companies from 15 countries are attending the two-day forum being held by MEEZA under the Minister’s patronage.
According to Al Jaber, Qatar under the leadership of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has taken prudent steps to strengthen cyber security through cooperation with the government, private sector, academia and other countries.
“Qatar’s leadership has stood up to challenges of cyber security with a national-level committee fostering cooperation among the public and private sectors, coordinating a national level cyber security strategy, developing national policies and regulations and conducting information security assessments,” she said.
“We now understand that effective cyber security is the result of improved technology, better defined processes, and a workforce more educated about cyber threats and risks.”
Urging the need for collaboration on cyber security, she said, “The scale of challenges requires strong national leadership, but we know that the Internet is fundamentally multinational. Threats are cross-border. We will seek partnership with the GCC and other countries that share our views.”
Rashid Al Naimi, Chairman, MEEZA said digital security is not just an issue of technical nature, it is rather the first line of defence of the economy, society and national wealth against attempted incursions by criminal elements that will always for various motives try to disrupt and harm the economy and the orderly functioning of organisations.
“With the growing digital economy and innovation, our country is now on a par with the best economies in terms of usage, voice and data communication, smart devices, the Internet and the quality and capacity of our ICT infrastructure, systems and their wide ranging use by the government, corporations and individuals,” he said.
Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General, International Telecommunication Union, Switzerland, said bridging the digital divide has been the utmost concern in recent years.
He said with almost two-thirds of the global population still offline and a daunting gap of 60 percent in the Internet penetration between Africa and Europe, there still remain challenges.
Ghada El Rassi, Chief Executive Officer, MEEZA, Qatar, said the forum reflects MEEZA’s commitment to bring to Qatar and the Gulf the most advanced information and telecommunication and security technology and make it available to customers in a cost- effective manner.
The Peninsula
