The online seminar on Prospects for cooperation of the CICA Member States in the field of cybersecurity was held on 18 November 2021. The event was held within the framework of Kazakhstan's Chairmanship in the CICA. The seminar was organized by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the assistance of the CICA Secretariat.
During the seminar, representatives of the Member States noted the timeliness of the event and the need to actively implement Confidence Building Measures in a priority area of the CICA as Security of and use of ICTs.
“In the conditions of the growing digital world space, the issues of ensuring cybersecurity are the most important condition for the development of the information society at the present stage and requires close attention from the international community. In this regard, cooperation of the Member States in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) will have a positive effect in the fight against cyber threats at the regional and global levels”, said Ms Chi Fang, Deputy Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat, in her welcoming speech.
The Chairman of the Committee on Information Security of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr Ruslan Abdikalikov, also addressed the participants and guests of the seminar with a welcoming speech, who urged the participants to fruitful work, open exchange of useful information and experience. “Not a single state in the world, no matter how strong and developed it is, will be able to completely get rid of all threats in the area of cybersecurity if it does not establish cooperation with other countries”, Mr Abdikalikov said.
During the seminar, the participants discussed the following topics: “The future of cybersecurity - challenges and opportunities for the CICA countries”, “Prospects for the development of cooperation between the CICA Member States in the areas of cyber and information security”, “New approaches and solutions to ensure information security in the CICA Member States" and others.
The speakers were representatives of the Security Council and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Cybersecurity Directorate of the President’s Office of the Republic of Turkey, the National Cyber Security Auditing and Evaluation Lab (NUST) and Army of Pakistan, “State Technical Service” JSC (Kazakhstan) and others.
The reports presented by the participants were accompanied by topical issues, discussions, additional speeches, which contributed to an active exchange of views and experience.
The seminar, moderated by Mr Vitaly Li, Chairman of the Public Association "Central Asian Association of Cyber Security Professionals", was attended by heads of government agencies, specialized experts and specialists from 18 CICA Member States, including Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Qatar, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, UAE, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey and Sri Lanka.