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.
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.
Huawei believes that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility that requires a team effort from all stakeholders. Public-private partnerships are essential to identify risks, prevent cyber-attacks, and protect data and assets. Such partnerships enable information sharing, joint development of cybersecurity solutions, and adoption of best practices. By leveraging the strengths of both sectors, governments and businesses can improve their defense capabilities, proactively detect and respond to threats, and ensure the overall security of critical infrastructures.