The ITU Arab Regional Cyber Security Center (ITU-ARCC), in partnership with Huawei, launched a new program to help strengthen the cybersecurity industry in the Arab region. Titled the ‘Cybersecurity Industry Development Strategy Maturity Module (CIDSMM),’ the program provides a comprehensive guide for regulatory authorities, industry stakeholders, and academic researchers to assess and improve their cybersecurity capabilities.
The first of its kind in the region and the world, the program is designed specifically for the Arab region’s cybersecurity industry. The program is one of the key outcomes of a partnership between ITU-ARCC and Huawei that was established in May this year to promote knowledge transfer, capacity building, and collaboration in the Arab world’s cybersecurity sector. The initiative was announced at the 11th Regional Cybersecurity Summit in Abu Dhabi, which brought together international experts and speakers to share their experiences and best practices in this field.
Eng. Badar Al Salehi, Director General, Oman National CERT and Head of the ITU Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre (ITU-ARCC), said, “In light of the cybersecurity market witnessing a steady increase, reaching more than 270 billion dollars, it is expected to reach 600 billion dollars.” Dollars by 2025; our signing of this agreement comes in line with the cybersecurity industry initiative that the Sultanate launched last November, through which we seek to enhance the environment for the cybersecurity industry in the Arab countries.”
Aloysius Cheang, Chief Security Officer, Huawei Middle East & Central Asia, said, “We are honored to collaborate with ITU-ARCC to launch this groundbreaking program, which aims to provide strong fundamentals that will strengthen the cybersecurity industry in the Arab region. This program will provide comprehensive guidance for developing cybersecurity strategies and policies that will not only serve as a benchmark but also offer insights and action plans to remediate a research mechanism that will uplift the quality of any national cybersecurity program from technology and industry verticals perspectives. ”
By implementing this program, Huawei aims to create a vibrant Arab cybersecurity ecosystem where results and action plans can be shared as a success case stories for adaption by other Arab nations, thereby promoting success and alignment and reducing opportunity cost of failures. It will also provide pillars of collaboration via a public-private partnership model for practical academic research and innovation in cybersecurity, fostering regional digital talents to bridge the digital divide and uplift the regional cybersecurity industry maturity as a whole.
The assessment program aims to provide a guideline for measuring and enhancing the cybersecurity maturity of various entities involved in the digital ecosystem, such as digital infrastructure protection, data security, cloud computing security, emerging technology, and telecommunication security, among others. CIDSMM provides accurate and effective information to support developing a long-term cybersecurity strategy, helps to identify best practices from other countries to summarize lessons learned for self-improvement, provides a national baseline for building cybersecurity capacity, and drives demand for cybersecurity-related services, products and services, growing commercial revenues or contributing to industry growth.
