The ITU Arab Regional Cyber Security Center (ITU-ARCC) and Huawei have signed an agreement to jointly promote public-private partnerships (PPPs) in cybersecurity. The cooperation agreement was signed by Eng. Badar Al Salehi, Director General, Oman National CERT &Head of the ITU Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre (ITU-ARCC) representing ITU-ARCC and Shunli Wang, VP of Huawei Middle East & Central Asia during COMEX 2023, Oman’s official technology, communications, innovation and digital transformation show.
The signing of this (ToR) marks a new era of cooperation between the regional cybersecurity organization ITU-ARCC and global ICT leader Huawei to promote Arab world cybersecurity knowledge transfer, sharing of best practices and capacity building.
The agreement seeks to strengthen the collaboration among Arab cybersecurity experts to effectively address threats and incident response in cyberspace. It also aims to nurture an open, mutually beneficial and neutral cybersecurity ecosystem through inclusive public and private partnerships. Further, both entities seek to jointly support efforts to establish a secure, prosperous and sustainable Arab digital economic ecosystem.
Commenting on the role of the agreement in supporting cybersecurity, Eng. Badar Al Salehi said: “The cybersecurity market is witnessing steady growth, reaching more than $270 billion, and is expected to reach $600 billion by 2025. This agreement comes in line with the Regional Cybersecurity Week launched by the Sultanate last November, through which we aim to develop the cybersecurity industry in the Arab countries.”
Aloysius Cheang, CSO of Huawei Middle East & central Asia, said: “Cyber defense is truly a team sport where all stakeholders have a role in protecting our ICT infrastructure. Further, deploying one solution to fit all cybersecurity scenarios is impossible, requiring unified standards and technological measures covering the whole cybersecurity ecosystem. With that in mind, we at Huawei are honored to partner with the ITU-ARCC, to support its efforts in addressing the cybersecurity challenges by providing secure and trustworthy products, solutions, and services.”
The ITU Arab Regional Cyber Security Center (ITU-ARCC) was established in December 2012, a joint effort by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology with a vision of creating a safer and cooperative cybersecurity environment in the Arab Region and strengthening the role of ITU in building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technologies in the region. In line with the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) objectives, the ITU-ARCC acts as ITU’s cybersecurity hub in the region, localizing and coordinating cybersecurity initiatives. ITU-ARCC is hosted, managed and operated by Oman National CERT (OCERT).
Huawei believes cybersecurity and privacy are common challenges that all stakeholders – including governments, industry and standards organizations, enterprises, technology suppliers, and consumers – have a shared responsibility to confront. Huawei actively works with governments, customers, and industry partners to address cybersecurity and privacy challenges, thereby reinforcing the need to treat cybersecurity as a team sport and maintaining an open and collaborative environment that encourages innovation and transparency. Through these efforts, Huawei advocates for cybersecurity to be viewed as the key to protecting our digital assets and leveraging it to support business.
