Dubai, UAE, 30th May 2021: GISEC, the Middle East’s and Africa’s most influential and connected cybersecurity event, opens at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) tomorrow and will play host to international experts who will collaborate to curate regional cybersecurity agendas.
GISEC 2021, which will be hosted until 2nd June, will be an essential platform for international dialogue amid a backdrop of increasingly sophisticated cybercrimes targeting governments, critical national infrastructure and sensitive corporate data.
World-class cybersecurity solution providers and experts from over 30 countries will participate at GISEC 2021, including innovators such as Huawei, Microsoft, Spire Solutions, Recorded Future, Teletrust, BluVector andDigital14.
Held under the theme ‘Enabling Resilience in Digital Economies’, GISEC’s hard-hitting conference programme will host over 180 international speakers including Matthias Schranner, Founder & CEO, Schranner Negotiation Institute, Switzerland; Tonu Tammer, Executive Director, Estonian Information System Authority; andHalushchenko Alexander, Chief Inspector, Office of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
GISEC visitors will hear how worldwide law enforcement agencies are working together to fight back against cybercriminals, when Craig Jones, INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Director, lines up with Col. Saeed M. Al Hajri, Director of the Cybercrime Department at Dubai Police, to outline joint operations on the identification of threats and their regional and national impacts.
Col. Saeed M. Al Hajri, Director of Cybercrime Department, Dubai Police, said: “As cybercriminals become more sophisticated and more bold, the vigilance of governments, businesses and citizens is more important than ever. The borderless nature of cybercrime means that organisations and individuals can be targeted from anywhere; it is imperative that we collaborate in order to develop strategies to help us navigate these complexities and so many others that are associated with cybercrime. GISEC is the perfect platform for sparking that discussion”.
With cybercrime continuing to rise following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, GISEC 2021 presents a crucial opportunity for regional cyber transformation, with three days of industry-shaping dialogue around the most pressing cybersecurity issues. CISOs, CIOs, CTOs, regulators and policymakers across government, finance, healthcare, telecom, energy and utilities will unpack innovative strategies for a robust, cyber-resilient ecosystem that inspires trust in the digital economy.
Backing the call for a unified defence approach, Jiawei Liu, CEO, Huawei UAE, a strategic event partner, said: “As we move towards a more digitally focused society following the pandemic, more devices are being connected and services are going online. Therefore, cybersecurity is now more important than ever. We believe that cybersecurity is not the responsibility of only one enterprise, nor can it be achieved by one country alone. Cybersecurity needs to be built by the whole society, engaging the entire digital ecosystem through openness and collaboration, harnessing unified international standards to mitigate cyber threats. Today, we are proud to be supporting organisations from across the Middle East, and I would like to commend the efforts of the GISEC event organisers, through which we can all gather to get one step closer to a safer cyberspace”.
GISEC drives government cybersecurity collaboration
GISEC is organised in close partnership with the UAE’s most influential cyber entities, including the UAE Cyber Security Council, Dubai Electronic Security Centre, Dubai Police, Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, Smart Dubai, the Investment Corporation of Dubai, ADNOC Refining and aeCERT, and will curate and prioritise the region’s strategic cybersecurity agendas.
The UAE Cyber Security Council will host the inaugural Global Cybersecurity Congress, while dedicated conference tracks will probe the cybersecurity landscapes in Saudi Arabia and Africa and across finance, energy, telecoms and other critical industries, while the 2021 GISEC Inspire Conference will focus on the importance of women in the industry.
GISEC 2021 will take place amid strict COVID prevention protocols which have enabled DWTC to prove its capability to curate the safest in-person business environment and deliver world-class events with the highest safety protocols. In February, DWTC welcomed tens of thousands of visitors at Gulfood 2021 – the first live global food trade event for 12 months, where 98% of visitors recorded a ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ experience.
“The international cybersecurity community looks to GISEC for a consensus and to build a roadmap on how we can defend organisations of all size from the damaging effects of cybercrime”, said Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, Events Management, DWTC. “GISEC 2021 will play a crucial role in driving collaboration against cybercriminals. Now is the time for international organisations to design a workable roadmap that can bring cybercriminals to justice”.
