The official opening of the Regional Cybersecurity Week was held under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, Advisor to His Majesty the Sultan, at Kempinski Hotel with the participation of 600 cybersecurity specialists and 49 speakers from 45 countries. The week agenda started on 27th and will continue until 31st October, organized by the Arab Regional Cybersecurity Center following the International Telecommunication Union and hosted by the Ministry of Technology and Communications.

Dr. Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO at the Ministry of Technology and Communications, spoke at the opening and he highlighted the impact of fourth Industrial Revolution (4-IR) on the cybersecurity field. He said, “The applications and programs of the 4-IR, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, Internet of Things, 3D printing, big data, robotics, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, and smart cities, have become fundamental pillars of the economies of the third millennium, and are radically changing the market demands in terms of work skills and competencies, rules and foundations of financial dealing, and trade, and methods of service delivery. There is no doubt that these new technologies that cover different aspects of life require rapid transformation of cybersecurity, where AI can enhance cybersecurity by leveraging existing data to analyze vulnerabilities and identify potential risks and work to correct security vulnerabilities.”

Sas Accelerator for Cybersecurity

In his speech, Al-Ruzaiqi announced the launch of Sas Accelerator for cybersecurity. He said, “We are glad to announce that the Ministry of Technology and Communications will take Sas Accelerator for Cybersecurity under its wings with the Oman Technology Fund and some international partners, to support and develop emerging tech companies in the area of Cybersecurity. Registration for the program will start in November, and the participating teams will start the accelerator program during the first quarter of 2020 and it will continue for 10 weeks. This program targets the teams and companies specializing in cybersecurity in the MENA and which are still in the idea development phase. It will focus on technology business fields relating to cybersecurity like product analysis, added value, building a prototype and reaching to investors.

Cyber Stars Competition

On the sidelines of the summit, the results of the third edition of Regional Cyber Stars competition was revealed. The competition was organized by the Arab Regional Cybersecurity Center and Silensec and sponsored by Earnest & Young. The competition aims to develop skills and talents in the Arab countries in the field of cybersecurity and enhance their ability to compete at the regional and international levels. The participants were divided by age into two groups; 7 to 24 years old and 24 years and older and in this edition 383 participants competed from 8 countries.

Weeks’ Agenda

As part of the cybersecurity week agenda, tomorrow, October 29, a Symposium for FIRST Organization will be held along with the 11th annual meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Cybersecurity Centers. On the last two days of this week's events from 30 to 31 October 2019, the seventh edition of the regional cyber drill will be held to assess response readiness in the regional countries.

-Ends-

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