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Dubai: Day 2-December 10, 2012

Under the Patronage of the UAE Ministry of Defense and with the official government support from Dubai eGovernment, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and aeCERT, the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA) concluded the first edition of the Gulf International Cyber Security Symposium- GICS- on December 10, 2012 at The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, UAE.

Opening Remark:
The second day of the conference started with an opening remark delivered by Dr. Theodore Karasik, Director for Research & Consultancy in INEGMA, where he thanked again the UAE Ministry of Defense, represented by His Excellency Major General Mohammed Al Essa, and also he thanked Dubai eGovernment ,Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority and aeCERT for their official government support and the audience for their attendance, this remark was followed by two plenary sessions.

First Session:
The first session was moderated by Mr. Sabahat Khan a Senior Analyst & Business Development Manager at INEGMA, featured four speakers. The speakers discussed e-government in Dubai and benefits and challenges. The participants were: Mr. Wesam Lootah an Assistant Director General at Dubai eGovernment had a lecture on “The Experience of Dubai eGovernment: Evolution towards a Secure Collaborative Connected Government.”

Followed by Major (Eng.) Rashid Ahmed Lootah, Director of Electronic Evidence at the General Department of Criminal Evidence and Criminology in Dubai Police had a presentation about: “Investigating Cyber Crimes – Identifying Key Challenges and Latest Lessons Learned.”

Dr. Andrew Jones a Program Chair MSc. Information Security in Khalifa University discussed: “Cultivating ICT and Network Security Expertise and Leadership - Building Capacity Domestically.”

Mr.Robert Eastman, Former the Director of Systems Engineering, OTC and Vice President Global Solutions at Lockheed Martin concluded the first session of day two by discussing: “Things to Consider When Building a National Cyber Capability.”

Second Session:
The second session of day two of the conference ended up with a focus group that was moderated by Mr. Illyas Kooliyankal, Head of Information Security & Business Continuity in ADS Holdings. The panelists of the final session in the GICS conference discussed “Intrusion Detection and Incident Management.” This final session included a panelist of four speakers: Mr. Tariq Al Hawi, Director, at aeCERT,Mr. Johan De Meyer, Chief Information Officer, at Mashreq Bank , Mr. Zafar Mir the Regional Manager Information Security Risk at HSBC MENA,Mr. Rinaldo R Oliveira the Head of IR GRC and IT Security at the Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai. This focus group debated the needs for a secure technology computing as it is becoming more complicated.

GICS 2012 sponsors were: Gold Sponsor: Parsons and Silver Sponsor: Lockheed Martin

The conference concluded with enormous success.