COEIA KSU Represented at Conference on Administrative Development in the Light of Saudi Vision 2030
Under the patronage of the Minister of Civil Service, H.E Mr. Suleiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, the Institute of Public Administration organized an overwhelming conference on “Administrative Development in the Light of Saudi Vision 2030” from 18-20 March 2019 at Crowne Plaza, Riyadh. The conference was attended by several Ministers, deputy ministers, heads of institutions, and agencies concerned with the programs and initiatives of the Saudi Vision 2030, with a large selection of local and international experts, professionals, researchers and academics from inside and outside the Kingdom.
This conference was aimed at contributing to the enhancement of administrative development in Saudi Arabia and upgrading it in the organizational, human, financial and technical aspects in the light of Vision 2030. The conference sessions addressed challenges of administrative development, public sector regulations, the impact of human resource development in promoting administrative development, the development role of public finance and privatization with a review of IT-enabled methods and tools, enhanced digital transformation, and performance in the public sector, etc.
Among the interesting sessions, the conference also hold a panel discussion on “Cybersecurity: Reality and Challenges” to discuss the effects of cybersecurity risks on the future trends in technology, education, training and practices as well as Kingdom’s capabilities to counter cybersecurity risks in the light of Vision 2030. The panel was moderated by Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jadhai, the CEO of Elm Company and the distinguished panelists included, Dr. Walid Alsalih, Deputy Governor National Cybersecurity Authority, Major General Dr. Tariq Alsheddi, DG National Information Center MOI, Dr. Mohammed Almeshekah, Ex-Vice Minister of Communications and IT, and Prof Muhammad Khurram Khan, the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance at King Saud University.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jadhai gave a brief introduction about Cybersecurity, including its threats and risks in the modern connected world. Then, Dr. Walid Alsalih introduced the challenges of cybersecurity locally and globally, which led to the establishment the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA) in the Kingdom. He also introduced the audience about the main initiatives the NCA is undertaking to achieve its national-level objectives. Afterwards, Dr. Mohammed Almeshekah shed light on the importance of treating cybersecurity as a business problem and discussed the importance of establishing trust in the secure business transactions and resiliency. To continue the discussion, Dr. Tariq Alsheddi introduced the history and initiatives of NIC and their capacity to deal with the cyber-attacks and addressing other IT related challenges and solutions, etc.
Lastly, Prof. Muhammad Khurram Khan discussed his viewpoints on cybersecurity capacity and capability building (locally and globally) and mapping global cybersecurity challenges and solutions in the local context. He underscored the importance and need of building a cybersecurity ecosystem in the Kingdom and developing world-class educational, training, and awareness programs for a cyber-resilient society. In addition, he elaborated on the opportunities of establishing an indigenous cyber industry by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the Kingdom to address the public and private sector challenges and needs, which could ultimately create jobs and competitiveness of the nation that is one of the objectives of the Vision 2030.
Finally, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Jadhai concluded the discussion with some recommendations and QA session.
