With the
benefit of each new technology comes its risks. One of the most significant
inventions of the early 20thCentury,
the motor car, brought prosperity and at the same time road accidents and air
pollultion. To this day we are still reaping the benefits of the motor car yet
we are still developing new ways to manage the associated risks. The impact of
the invention of the internet has been extraordinary and, of course, global.
While we all stand to benefit from today’s information society, cyberthreats
affect us globally and pose a problem for Government, Private Sector and Civil
Society alike. To tackle these threats we need harmonized policies on a global
level. If the ITU exists today it is because of the need for harmonized policies
at an international level for a technology that was new in 1844: the telegraph!
Today ITU
has its Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA) as a framework for international
cooperation, seeking to encourage collaboration amongst all relevant partners
and build confidence and security in the use of ICTs. Within this framework
ITU-D is working with its Members to establish best practices on a national
level and help to implement policies that will allow people everywhere to
benefit from the Information Society in a secure environment. In particular, we
need to ensure that the most vulnerable members of society, such as children,
are protected.
This
session is looking at managing cyberthreats through harmonized policies and
organizational structures and to discuss these issues we have with us five
distinguished speakers:
H.E. Mr. Ivailo Kalfin is currently Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria. He is a
leader and founder of the Social Democrats Political Movement and has extensive
experience in politics, both in his present role and previously as Deputy
Chairman of the Bulgaria/EU Joint Parliamentary Committee. He is also active in
the academic field, as Senior Professor at the International University of Sofia
and author of various publications on economic issues.
|
H.E. Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim is the Minister of
Communications of Ghana. He is an engineer by profession and has a long
experience in Telecommunications, both in his present role as Minister and
before that as Deputy Minister of Communications. He also served as the
coordinating Minister for the privatization of Ghana Telecom and is the first Chairman of the Council of Ghana Telecom
University College.
|
H.E. Mr. Elhadj Gley is the Minister of Communication
Technologies of Tunisia. An Economist by background, he has extensive political
experience having been Director General at the Ministry of National
Economy and Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.
He is also Chairman & CEO of the Tunisian Post Company.
|
Dr. Halim Shafie is currently the Chairman of the
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. Further to a broad academic
training, he has had a long career in the Civil Service, notably in the Ministry
of Education, the National Institute of Public Administration and in the Prime
Minister’s Department. He has also been Deputy Secretary of the Communications
and Multimedia Sector as well as Secretary General for the Ministry of Energy,
Water and Communications.
|
Mr. Sandro Calvani is Director of the United Nations
Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). He has
significant experience across a wide range of criminal and social issues,
particularly in the fields of drug control and crime prevention. Mr. Calvani
founded and was the first Executive Director of the World Health Organization
Pan-African Centre for Disaster Reduction based in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. He is
the author of many books and articles on sustainable development, narcotics
trafficking and transnational organized crime.
|
|