By Adnan Hameed
TWA
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The Coordinator General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, and Dr. Syed Khurshid Hasnain, Advisor COMSTECH, engaged with Huawei’s Cyber Security and Privacy Protection team at the prestigious Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This strategic meeting focused on delineating the future trajectory of their collaboration, emphasizing cybersecurity proficiency across member states of the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation).
The collaboration seeks to bolster cybersecurity capabilities in OIC nations, with a targeted focus on security management, incident response, vulnerability management, and staying abreast of emerging security technologies. Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary underscored COMSTECH’s mission to leverage Huawei’s technological prowess for the collective benefit of member states.
Describing the collaboration as a flexible and forward-looking cooperation, Prof. Choudhary expressed intentions to expand Huawei’s influence into key sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and cybersecurity. A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between COMSTECH and Huawei Technologies Pakistan solidifies their commitment to enhancing national cybersecurity awareness and capabilities in OIC member states.
Under this MoU, Huawei will collaborate with COMSTECH to conduct cybersecurity training sessions, drawing upon its practices and experiences. This initiative aims to contribute to heightened cybersecurity awareness and capacity building for selected OIC governmental employees. Additionally, participation in influential regional cybersecurity events like GISEC and GITEX is on the collaborative agenda.
Prof. Choudhary acknowledged the significant capacity deficit faced by many OIC member states in technological competencies, policies, regulations, and strategies. The partnership with Huawei is positioned as a broad-based initiative, with the goal of leveraging Huawei’s expertise to develop a comprehensive understanding of national strategies. This understanding will facilitate the formulation of digital transformation policies and legislations tailored to each member state’s unique needs.
Dr. Syed Khurshid Hasnain is actively collaborating with the Huawei Pakistan team to develop a matrix of activities, including workshops, national and international training programs, and the implementation of cutting-edge technologies.
