Page 123 - SAMENA Trends - November-December 2019

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

the world to develop the best possible industry-specific solutions, Research Director at Gartner. “More importantly, an evolving threat
enrich local ICT industry ecosystems, address challenges and landscape and the advent of Digital Transformation is forcing local
future demands in line with the requirements of local markets, security and risk leaders to re-evaluate their spending priorities.”
and keep driving customers to go digital.” The UAE 5G Conference, (November 16, 2019) intelligentcio.com
organized by the TRA, with the participation of prominent officials
and experts in this field, aims to discuss the reality, prospects, The UAE concluded its participation in the World
challenges and opportunities related to 5G. Radiocommunication Conference 2019, WRC-19, held in Sharm
(December 9, 2019) wam.ae El Sheikh, with the participation of 165 Member States, thus
contributing significantly in highlighting the role of the Arab
The UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is Spectrum Management Group, ASMG, and presenting many
working on Cybersecurity policy for a cloud-based future, according working papers and opinions on all the topics of the agenda.
to Eng. Abdulrahman Almarzouqi, Director of Cybersecurity TRA. The UAE also made many proposals that helped bridge opinions
“Everything will be moving to the cloud, and so the security of the between the participating countries and reach solutions that
cloud is very important,” said Almarzouqi, speaking at the Gartner achieve satisfactory results for the UAE in particular and the
Security & Risk Management Summit in Dubai. Almarzouqi said that Arab region in general. The UAE participated with a high-level
the TRA is working on a comprehensive policy for cloud security, delegation including the Telecommunications Regulatory
including for public and private use. Organizations are likely to Authority, TRA, the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Interior and
implement their cloud strategies gradually, and Almarzouqi said the UAE service providers. Tariq Al Awadhi, Executive Director
private companies could classify their data and begin migrating Spectrum Affairs and the Head of the ASMG, said, “The success
to the cloud by moving their least critical data first. As they gain of the UAE’s participation in the conference is the result of early
in cloud confidence, they could then move more of their data to preparations, which started immediately after the WRC-15,
the cloud. Almarzouqi also confirmed that the TRA is looking at where a national team was assigned to prepare for the WRC-
the cybersecurity aspects of other fast developing technologies 19. The team was chaired by the TRA and included all relevant
including IoT, AI and Big Data. The TRA is actively working with government entities, as well as operators, manufacturers and
other organizations including international bodies such as the suppliers, to benefit from their expertise in achieving the interests
International Telecommunications Union to ensure that its of the country and shaping the future of spectrum management.”
policies are in line with international standards and practices. WRC-19 addressed the requirements of leading technological
In terms of preventing cyberbreaches, Almarzouqi said that user innovations that can play a pivotal role in the digital economy in
awareness is a key priority. Social engineering is ‘the number-1 the future, including allocating additional frequency bands for IMT,
way’ that cybercriminals penetrate user information and assets. enabling the implementation of IMT networks (5G), Earth Stations
Awareness of the need to have multi-factor authentication and in Motion that facilitate communication from aircraft, ships and
strong passwords is vital to preventing cyberattacks, according land vehicles with satellites in the geostationary-satellite orbit,
to Almarzouqi. Middle East and North Africa (MENA) enterprise etc. During the conference, several important decisions were
information security and risk management spending will total taken, including the approval of additional spectrum allocations
US$1.7 billion in 2020, an increase of 10.7% from 2019, according for IMT 2020 (5G technology). At the WRC-19, Al Awadhi was
to a recent forecast by Gartner, Inc. “The double-digit growth is appointed Vice-Chairman of the Conference as the Head of the
a reflection of how organizations in MENA region are coming up ASMG. The TRA also received numerous leadership positions for
to speed with their global counterparts in adopting information the next session.
security and risk management solutions,” said Sam Olyaei, (December4, 2019) wam.ae

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