UAE's TRA wins membership in the general assembly board for computer emergency response teams in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation

5 January 2017

The General Authority for Regulating the Telecommunications Sector (TRA), represented by the aeCERT, has won membership in the general assembly board for computer emergency response teams (CERTs) in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The announcement came during the TRA’s participation in the agenda of the annual conference and meeting of the general assembly of CERTs in the OIC, entitled “Toward a responsive nation to the variables of cyberspace” held during the period 11-14 December 2016 in the KSA.

The assembly board consists of representatives of seven countries. The UAE’s winning of this membership came after a fierce competition between five countries, where the UAE gained 13 out of 16 votes, which is the number of countries entitled to vote in elections out of 56 member states in the OIC.

Commenting on the importance of winning the membership, H.E. Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, TRA Director General said: “Winning the membership of the board of the CERT’s general assembly in the OIC is an important achievement added to the series of achievements made by the TRA during 2016. We look forward in the coming period to further coordination and cooperation between the various Islamic countries and board members in order to reach the desired goals and objectives in exchanging experiences with all OIC countries and helping them develop future strategies and plans in this area.”

In turn, Eng. Adel Rashed Al Mehairi, Director aeCERT at TRA said: “This step reflects the trust of the OIC member countries in the ability of UAE, represented by the TRA, in playing a vital role in strengthening the efforts of cooperation and coordination at the OIC level as a whole, and in contributing to future plans in cooperation with the rest of the member countries in the OIC. We look forward through winning this membership to contribute to the formulation of policies and programs that would change the security and integrity standards of information, data and cybersecurity at the level of OIC countries.”

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The OIC aim at strengthening the relationships amongst CERTs in the OIC Member Countries, OIC-CERT partners and other stakeholders in the OIC member domain and Encouraging Experience and Information Sharing in Cyber Security. The Organization also work on Preventing and reducing cyber-crimes, harmonizing cyber security policies, laws and regulations and Building Cyber security capabilities and awareness amongst member countries. It also helps Promoting Collaborative Research, Development and Innovation in cyber security, and Promoting international cooperation with international cyber security organizations.

The conference witnessed many active participations, and the agenda focused on mechanisms and ways for promoting international cooperation on cybersecurity among the various member countries. In addition, the conference included several dialogue sessions and workshops focusing on the most important current subjects related to data and information security, as well strategies, programs and initiatives to be adopted later in this regard.

It should be noted that the UAE will host the next edition of the conference, which is scheduled to be held during the last quarter of 2017.

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© Press Release 2017