logo
UAE Cyber Security Council at the forefront of tackling evolving cyber threats amid digital transformation

UAE Cyber Security Council at the forefront of tackling evolving cyber threats amid digital transformation

Al Etihad08-04-2025
9 Apr 2025 01:23
SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)As the world increasingly relies on data centres and cloud infrastructure, the UAE Cyber Security Council remains at the forefront of addressing challenges that arise from digital transformation. The UAE Cyber Security Council participates in the ongoing World Crisis and Emergency Management Summit 2025 (WCEMS), turning the spotlight on cyber threats as part of the risks that should be considered in resilience strategies. Building resilience and working together are necessary to ensure readiness for any future threats or attacks, said with Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Cyber Security Council. "At the council, we have been actively involved in addressing the challenges posed by digital transformation. Today, everything is moving towards the cloud or relying on various servers, data centers, and infrastructures," he said in an interview. "Our approach to tackling these issues centers on raising awareness about cyber culture. We collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure that data security is prioritised, the privacy of individuals is protected, and we strike the right balance between privacy, security, and readiness. This balance is crucial to us, which is why we conduct numerous drills focused on cyberattacks, cyber terrorism, and cyber warfare," Al Kuwaiti added. "Our ultimate goal is to complete the entire cycle, working together to build resilience in the face of these evolving threats."The UAE has set the goals, standards, and best practices for responding to many crisis and emergency situations, Al Kuwaiti said.
"As we have seen, this applies across various challenges-be it Covid-19, cyberattacks, or geopolitical and financial issues. The key to our success lies in the collaboration between all entities, working together to respond effectively to these crises. We cannot work in isolation. We need everyone involved."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

ECA's Parent-Friendly Label sets higher bar as more UAE employers adopt family-first policies
ECA's Parent-Friendly Label sets higher bar as more UAE employers adopt family-first policies

Al Etihad

timea day ago

  • Al Etihad

ECA's Parent-Friendly Label sets higher bar as more UAE employers adopt family-first policies

15 Aug 2025 00:24 SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)The UAE is seeing a shift in workplace culture as more employers expand parental leave, flexible hours, and support for families of children of determination. This trend is being shaped in part by the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority's Parent-Friendly Label (PFL) programme, which has tightened its evaluation standards and drawn record participation in its third programme's latest cycle saw a record 83 applications from semi-government, private and third-sector employers, with a notable rise in entries from professional services, education, energy and healthcare. The number of employees benefitting from parent-friendly policies rose 28% compared with the previous cycle, while inclusivity for parents of children of determination improved by more than 50%. 'The third cycle of the Parent-Friendly Label marks a significant milestone in the programme's journey, both in scale and impact,' Fatmah Rashed Alkaabi, PFL Programme Manager at the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), told Aletihad in an interview. 'This cycle holds special importance as we celebrate our label earners while the UAE marks the Year of Community in 2025, reinforcing the programme's commitment to fostering a more inclusive, family-supportive work culture across the country.'Organisations applying for the label are also adapting to more demanding evaluation criteria, which now place greater weight on the measurable impact and sustainability of workplace practices. Alkaabi revealed that, while the PFL retained the original 19 criteria across the five assessment areas — parental leave, flexible work, family care, family wellbeing, and organisational culture — the third cycle placed greater emphasis on leadership accountability, data tracking, and staff wellbeing support.'We also focused on assessing managers' support mechanisms beyond policy documentation, including leadership accountability, data tracking, and parental wellbeing programmes. These enhancements were informed by insights from earlier cycles to ensure stronger differentiation of label earners,' she added. Impact Beyond the Workplace Alkaabi said label earners have introduced institutional initiatives that directly affect the lives of working parents, creating long-term benefits for their children, communities, and the organisations themselves. Some offer six months' maternity leave, eight weeks' paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, and dedicated support for parents of children of determination. These measures, she explained, reduce stress, strengthen families, and enhance wellbeing, equity, productivity, and global competitiveness.'Our primary objective is to drive social change across the UAE by fostering a deeper understanding of the unique journey of working parents,' Alkaabi said.'This shift represents a long-term investment in child wellbeing and national development goals. Parent-supportive workplaces enhance healthy child development by encouraging beneficial practices like breastfeeding, which improve mother and child health,' she acknowledged that some employers, particularly smaller firms, may have concerns about potential disruption and costs. To address these, Alkaabi said the PFL programme offers free support to foster inclusive policies and has already impacted more than one million employees worldwide.'One of [the programme's] most valuable features is a structured feedback process, through which all applicants, regardless of outcome, receive an independent assessment highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement.'She added that the PFL team also connects organisations with experts and peers to help refine existing policies or develop new ones that align with both the programme's criteria and the unique culture of the 3 honoured 12 national and international organisations, including three earning the PFL+ for meeting or exceeding global standards in parent-friendly policies — HSBC, Ethara, and TAQA Transmission. The remaining nine — ADNOC, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Miral, DP World, The Developing Child Centre, Procter & Gamble, Strategy& Middle East, Kraft Heinz, and SLB — earned the PFL for exceeding local best said the ECA will continue to benchmark against leading global models to ensure the programme's evaluation criteria align with international standards, while remaining contextually relevant to the UAE. This ongoing refinement, she explained, is key to sustaining progress and widening the adoption of parent-friendly policies across sectors. 'Looking ahead, we will continue expanding the programme's reach to all sectors across the UAE and drive a nationwide shift to parent-friendly work culture across all industries.'

RSDI builds global bridges while advancing regional security dialogues
RSDI builds global bridges while advancing regional security dialogues

Al Etihad

timea day ago

  • Al Etihad

RSDI builds global bridges while advancing regional security dialogues

15 Aug 2025 00:35 SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)Aiming to connect the Gulf region with its global security partners, Rabdan Security and Defence Institute (RSDI) has been building its influence through high-level dialogues, tailored policy briefs, and its pilot projects in the pipeline. RSDI, a UAE think tank focused on the ever-evolving landscapes of defence and security, is committed to enhancing regional understanding and fostering long-term collaboration. It produces nuanced analyses grounded in Middle Eastern perspectives, delivering actionable insights to policymakers and the international community. Explaining its strategies in an interview with Aletihad , Dr. Wan Zokhri Bin Wan Idris, Interim Manager of RSDI, said the institute positions itself as 'a neutral and trusted convenor.' 'RSDI can present findings and results in ways that acknowledge different narratives, without taking sides, especially in sensitive geopolitical matters,' Idris said. He stressed the importance of recognising diverse perspectives and encouraging open dialogue. This approach, he added, is supported by a knowledge base built on collaborative research and data-sharing platforms. Given the UAE's partnerships with both Western and Asian powers and its role in humanitarian and conflict mediation, the institute is well-positioned to serve as a bridge between regional stakeholders and the global community, Idris said. Central to this strategy is RSDI's collaboration with reputable institutions such as the Middle East Institute in Washington, he added. As part of its engagement efforts, RSDI recently hosted a high-level panel examining the possible impact of US President Donald Trump's return on US-China dynamics and regional security frameworks. Discussions pointed out that the renewed Trump presidency would open new avenues for US–East Asia cooperation, particularly in sectors like semiconductors and renewable energy. Building on its foundation of dialogue and collaboration, RSDI is expanding its impact through a series of pilot initiatives designed to deepen regional security cooperation. 'In 2025, we are set to launch the Annual Middle East Security (AMES) Conference, a collaboration with TRENDS Advisory and Research. Then in 2026, we plan to launch the Middle East Defence Outlook Conference (MEDOC) as an avenue for researchers, policymakers, decision-makers to convene and discuss defence modernisation in the region.'

Manufacturers turn to artificial intelligence to weather tariff storm
Manufacturers turn to artificial intelligence to weather tariff storm

Gulf Today

time2 days ago

  • Gulf Today

Manufacturers turn to artificial intelligence to weather tariff storm

Mark Bendeich, Reuters Manufacturers like US lawnmower maker The Toro Company are not panicking at the prospect of US President Donald Trump's global trade tariffs. Despite five years of dramatic supply disruptions, from the COVID pandemic to today's trade wars, Toro is resisting any temptation to stack its warehouses to the rafters. "We are at probably pre-pandemic inventory levels," says its chief supply-chain manager, Kevin Carpenter, looking relaxed in front of a whiteboard at his office in Minneapolis. "I mean 2019. I think everybody will be at a 2019 level." Among US manufacturers, inventories have roller-coasted this year as they rushed to beat Trump's deadlines for tariff hikes, only to see them repeatedly delayed. But since their post-pandemic expansion, inventories have mostly contracted, according to US Institute for Supply Management data. Instead, "just in time" inventory management - which aims to increase efficiency and reduce waste by ordering goods only as they are needed - is back. But how can firms run lean inventories even as tariffs fluctuate, export bans come out of the blue, and conflict rages? One of the answers, they say, is artificial intelligence. Carpenter says he uses AI to digest the daily stream of news that could impact Toro's business, from Trump's latest social media posts to steel prices, into a custom-made podcast that he listens to each morning. His team also uses generative AI to sieve an ocean of data and to suggest when and how many components to buy from whom. It is a boom industry. Spending on software that includes generative AI for supply chains, capable of learning and even performing tasks on its own, could hit $55 billion by 2029, up from $2.7 billion now, according to U.S. research firm Gartner, driven in part by global uncertainties. "The tool just puts up in front of you: 'I think you can take 100 tonnes of this product from this plant to transfer it to that plant. And you just hit accept if that makes sense (to you)," McKinsey supply chain consultant Matt Jochim said. The biggest providers of overall supply chain software by revenue are Germany's SAP, US firms Oracle, Coupa and Microsoft and Blue Yonder, a unit of Panasonic, according to Gartner. Generative AI is in its infancy, with most firms still piloting it spending modest amounts, industry experts say. Those investments can climb to tens of millions of dollars when deployed at scale, including the use of tools known as AI agents, which make their own decisions and often need costly upgrades to data management and other IT systems, they said. In commenting for this article, SAP, Oracle, Coupa, Microsoft and Blue Yonder described strong growth for generative AI solutions for supply chains without giving numbers. At US supply chain consultancy GEP, which sells AI tools like this, Trump's tariffs are helping to drive demand. "The tariff volatility has been big," says GEP consultant Mukund Acharya, an expert in retail industry supply chains. SAP said the uncertainty was driving technology take-up. "That's how it was during the financial crisis, Brexit and COVID. And it's what we're seeing now," Richard Howells, SAP vice president and supply chain specialist, said in a statement. An AI agent can sift real-time news feeds on changing tariff scenarios, assess contract renewal dates and a myriad of other data points and come up with a suggested plan of action. But supply chain experts warn of AI hype, saying a lot of money will be wasted on a vain hope that AI can work miracles. "AI is really a powerful enabler for supply chain resilience, but it's not a silver bullet," says Minna Aila, communications chief at Finnish crane-maker Konecranes and member of a business board that advises the OECD on issues including supply chain resilience. "I'm still looking forward to the day when AI can predict terrorist attacks that are at sea, for instance." Konecranes' logistics partners are deploying AI on more mundane data, like weather forecasts. The company makes port cranes that are up to 106 metres (348 ft) high when assembled. When shipping them, AI marries weather forecasts with data like bridge heights to optimise the route. "To ship those across oceans, you do have to take into consideration weather," Aila says. By keeping inventories low, firms can bolster profit margins that are under pressure from rising costs. Every component or finished product sitting on a shelf is capital tied up, incurring finance and storage costs and at risk of obsolescence. McKinsey has been surveying supply-chain executives since the pandemic. Its most recent survey showed that respondents relying on bigger inventory to cushion disruptions fell to 34% last year from 60% in 2022. Early responses from its upcoming 2025 survey suggest a similar picture, Jochim said. Gartner supply chain analyst Noha Tohamy says that without AI, companies would be slower to react and be more likely to be drawn into building up inventories. "When supply chain organisations don't have that visibility and don't really understand the uncertainty, we go for inventory buffering," Tohamy says. But AI agents won't put supply chain managers out of work, not yet, consultants say. Humans still need to make strategic and big tactical decisions, leaving AI agents to do more routine tasks like ordering and scheduling production maintenance. Toro supply chain chief Carpenter says that without AI, supply chain managers might need to run bigger teams as well. Is he worried that AI is coming for his job one day? "I hope it doesn't take it until my kids get through college!"

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store