The report focusses on nine major MENA economies: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, and Bahrain.

The report, however, said despite starting from behind, the region has the necessary conditions to leapfrog others on the sustainability journey and share a new model for bold and coordinated regional action that leaves no one behind on a path to greener growth.

MENA holds the advantage in both conventional sources of energy—given its low costs and low-emissions profile for hydrocarbon extraction—and renewables energy generation—noting its solar potential and vast swathes of available land.

It says successfully transitioning to a sustainable future will hinge on bold measures from policymakers and companies, raising awareness and increasing the number of multi-stakeholder partnerships. This entails stepping up efforts on decarbonization and emission-related target-setting, and taking bold steps to unlock value from energy transition.

The report finds that MENA countries have demonstrated growing commitment to climate action through net-zero targets, however current pledges fall short, business adoption lags global peers, and consumers underestimate regional vulnerabilities. Successfully transitioning to a sustainable future will hinge on bold measures from policymakers and companies, raising public awareness and establishing multi-stakeholder partnerships.

For businesses, the report outlines that this entails setting science-based targets, decarbonizing operations, deploying resilient planning, and mobilizing sustainable finance. For policymakers, it is imperative to establish clear climate regulations, enable access to technology and infrastructure, expand access to sustainable financing solutions, and facilitate access to education to grow talent. Together, strategic climate action can strengthen economic diversification, exports and employment across MENA.

The article Climate action: Report finds MENA business community lagging behind appeared first on Arabian Post.

Bybit, the world’s third most visited crypto exchange with 15 million users worldwide, announced the grand opening of its global headquarters in Dubai. The second largest crypto exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) also revealed future plans to elevate its global presence with a stronger foothold in the region.

Occupying a full floor at One Central, Dubai World Trade Center, Bybit’s corporate headquarters boasts an open space of 16,000 square feet overlooking Dubai’s iconic landmarks such as Burj Khalifa and the Museum of the Future.

One of the first exchange services to obtain the in-principle approval to operate in Dubai, Bybit has seized the momentum on a meteoric rise to the No.2 spot among the over 400 crypto and blockchain businesses in MENA in the past year. In 2023, the exchange is on track to double its trading volume in the region.

Building on its ambition to become the world’s Crypto Ark and to facilitate the mass adoption of digital assets, Bybit is looking to power up global expansions from its new home base through new partnership, talent cultivation and product innovation programs.

“We are excited to be part of Dubai’s futuristic skyline and most importantly, to be able to officially call Dubai home,” said Ben Zhou, CEO and co-founder of Bybit. “The digital economy is advancing at incredible speed and crypto and blockchain technology will be the mainstay and the connective tissues. As one of the most progressive digital assets hubs in MENA and the world, Dubai is optimally positioned to capture the opportunities in the sector by bringing together state-of-the-art tech and infrastructure, international talent and vision.”

Zhou said the space was designed to encapsulate Bybit’s commitment to openness, creativity and transparency. “The new office will be an innovative hub for dreamers and creators to exchange ideas and unlock next level opportunities of Web3. Our door will be open to friends and members of the Bybit family,” he said.

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By 2025, privacy lawsuits and claims related to biometric information processing and cyber-physical systems will have resulted in over $8 billion in fines and settlements, according to Gartner, Inc.

“Autonomous vehicles, drones that capture video, smart buildings and smart cities are cyber-physical systems that capture biometrics of all kinds,” said Bart Willemsen, research vice president at Gartner. “The collection and storage of biometric information is gaining, whether in the form of fingerprints, iris scans, remote recognition of face, gait, voice, or even DNA samples. But this information has huge potential to be misused or abused.”

During his session at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, taking place virtually, Willemsen said that new privacy laws cover the capture, conversion, storage and processing of biometric data, and can even apply to face tagging technology in social media. They may also come with a retention regime, and may prohibit selling, leasing, trading or profiting from biometric data. Some prohibit the usage of biometric information in certain use cases altogether.

Gartner predicts that by 2024, large organizations’ average annual budget for privacy will exceed $2.5 million, allowing a shift from compliance ethics to competitive differentiation.

Privacy budgets increased from $1.7 million in 2019, to $2 million in 2021 and are expected to continue to increase at a steady rate. The sudden uptick in online activity, remote working, and virtual learning increased cyberthreats. With the expansion of privacy regulation efforts across dozens of jurisdictions in the coming two years, many organizations will only see the need to start their privacy program efforts now.

Gartner recommends that organizations first gain full control in detail over all personal data processing activities before they can hand over that control to the individual. One way to do that is through privacy rights and consent management services.

Depending on the maturity of their privacy programs, organizations are reaching beyond mere compliance-driven wor, toward customer-centric activities. For example, allowing customer experience professionals to address customer complaints on lack of transparency, and automation of the privacy UX, or by giving access to privacy rights to all global clientele, whether they have to or not, treating customers internationally equally.

The article Gartner predicts $8b in claims related to biometrics appeared first on Arabian Post.

The exoskeleton is at the campus of the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK) in Pori, Finland. SAMK is an international, multi-disciplinary institute of higher education. They believe in cutting-edge research combined with a multidisciplinary focus, like what they are doing with the exoskeleton.

“The exoskeleton is a device the patient wears so they can walk,” Jyräkoski explains. “It has motors in the hips and knees, so patients can walk even if the legs are paralysed. We don’t do the rehabilitation ourselves, but we help get the evidence that it is beneficial.”

Exoskeletons are commercially available, but they are still an unusual device which you won’t find at every therapist office. SAMK wanted to conduct hard science on exoskeletons in a collaborative model. This brings a variety of specialties to the table.

“We conduct exoskeleton research with a diverse group of partners, such as teachers, researchers, students and physiotherapy clinics,” explains Sari Meri-
lampi, principal lecturer at SAMK. “We have experts at automation, healthtech, data analytics and a variety of disciplines. We are even working internationally, like with a research group in Italy.”

Many physiotherapy clinics and hospitals might be unable to make a large investment in an exoskeleton, but they have been invited to share SAMK’s model. Students get the rare chance to study an innovative device first-hand. The researchers get to be one of the very first to conduct serious studies on exoskeletons.

“This is pioneering work. The world is a small place when it comes to a new field of research like exoskeletons,” Merilampi says. “This is particularly good for the students who get to use such a novel technology. We are creating an entirely new career path as a technology therapist.”

Some of their research includes measurement technology, patient benefits and therapist benefits. The traditional way for a therapist to help rehabilitate a patient relies heavily upon brute force. The therapist must physically help the patient move their legs. This can be demanding, even if the patient is supported.

“A patient can only take as many steps as a therapist can help them take,” Jyräkoski says. “But the therapist doesn’t have to work as hard when the exoskeleton is doing the mechanical labour. She oversees the process and makes necessary adjustments to give the most benefits to the patient.”

Exoskeletons in rehabilitation are still rare, and SAMK is happy to bring in so many specialists to experience it in a multi-professional environment.

“It is great that all these experts can use these newest solutions, which is beneficial to all stakeholders,” says Merilampi. “We work and learn together. It is a tough job, but we aren’t afraid of challenges.”

The article Innovation with exoskeletons appeared first on Arabian Post.

Bengaluru/By Vishnu Raja/The on-going brawl over telcos move to charge consumers differently and discriminate in favor of some apps opposed to others, had once existed in the past, but only in a realm of hypothetical discussions. The debate is becoming realistic as people in India begin to realize the importance of net neutrality (NN) and the ‘dangers’ this may pose to consumers.

ISPs, globally, have a track record of such arbitrary actions and conflicting rationale against the spirit of what emerged out of the mere idea of open culture — the internet.

Airtel Zero is a data scheme launched recently in India that will allow app developers – big or small – to promote their apps by making them available to end-users free of cost. Since India is the fastest growing smartphone market in Asia, Telecom companies see this as a big opportunity to maximize revenue by charging app developers. While advocates of free internet see this as a violation of NN, officials at Airtel said its decision has nothing do with the net neutrality and “bypassing” regulations is not possible as the law of the land, under which the telcos operate, is “sacrosanct”.

In India, there are no well formulated laws concerning internet freedom and it is fair to  say, in the absence of such laws, telecom players can easily manipulate markets in many ways.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is in the process of formulating guidelines concerning internet neutrality and there is a movement gaining ground to file a mass petition.

A quick compilation of past instances where ISPs globally exercised unqualified supremacy over market shares will help realize what we’re in for:

1) Vonage Voip Services – Vonage is a New Jersey-based company offering voice-calling facility over a broadband network. In 2004, Madison River Communications, now a part of CenturyLink, denied its customers’ access to Vonage voice calling facility. The fact that the ISP was directly involved was never disclosed until Vonage found out on their own, when customers started complaining.

2) Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (United Arab Emirates) – Another case of heavy-handed decision to block VOIP services occurred in Dubai, in the late 90’s when the government-run monopoly Emirates Telecommunications Corporation blocked a communication port used by VOIP calling services. The consumers were pretty much left anguished at the whim of the service provider.

3) In 2013, America’s telecom giants, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile revoked user access to Google Wallet on Nexus devices, while all three ISPs were involved in the development of a competing mobile payments joint venture called Isis (not to be mistaken for the terrorist group).

4) In another incident of NN violation, as demonstrated by entrepreneur Colin Nederk in this video , a service provider began throttling connection speeds with traffic coming in through LEVEL3.

5) The worst case of net neutrality violation is ISPs interfering with Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). In 2014, GOLDEN FROG, a VPN service, submitted a report to FCC on how its secure channel was compromised. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

… This broadband provider is overwriting the content of users’ communications and actively blocking STARTTLS encryption. This is a man-in-the-middle attack that prevents customers from using the applications of their choosing and directly prevents users from protecting their privacy…

STARTTLS encryption

The issue needs to be treated with utmost seriousness. Because if ISPs are allowed to blatantly turn off encryption, it essentially means they can detect VPNs easily and eventually block such services leaving everyone exposed to vulnerabilities.

In the US, when the a need for building laws around internet freedom was felt, the FCC stepped in and gathered all collaterals necessary to fight out. So, how proactive will TRAI be in dealing with internet freedom is a matter of great curiosity for all interested parties.

(H/T Techdirt, PC World)

Vishnu Raja is a Bangalore-based contributor for technology issues.

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