GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) GLOBAL 2022 took place from October 10-14 in Dubai. Members of the FileCloud team were excited to attend this pivotal event. The event attracts 100,000 visitors each year. It is held at the Dubai World Trade Center to highlight the rapid developments in the tech sector in the overall Middle […]
GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) GLOBAL 2022 took place from October 10-14 in Dubai. Members of the FileCloud team were excited to attend this pivotal event.
The event attracts 100,000 visitors each year. It is held at the Dubai World Trade Center to highlight the rapid developments in the tech sector in the overall Middle East, North Africa, and Asia (MENA) region. FileCloud already has a strong MENA presence and welcomed the opportunity to strengthen existing partnerships and foster new ones.
Customers at the GITEX FileCloud Booth
Much of the talk at GITEX this year was about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ambitious and far-reaching Vision 2030 roadmap. This series of projects aims to strengthen the social, cultural, and economic development of Saudi Arabia on a grand scale.
Cutting-edge development of the country's technology sector is at the center of Vision 2030. For example, the building of the technologically advanced, sustainable smart city of Noem, next to Jordan and the Red Sea coast, is the key project. The plans for Noem include artificial clouds producing rainfall, flying taxis, and holographic teachers in educational settings! The government will expand the luxury tourism sector via the Red Sea Project alongside the development of Noem.
Although Vision 2030 is a roadmap for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is indicative of the entire MENA region's focus on investing in digital infrastructure. To facilitate the digitization of government and industry, many countries in the region have recognized the need for a more sophisticated regulatory environment to govern digital operations and have acted accordingly.
To that end, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both published draft Personal Data Protection Laws in recent times. They have also legislated for, and invested in, the vital area of cybersecurity.
To facilitate the digital governance aspects of the Vision 2030 framework, the Saudi Arabian Government has published various regulations. In 2018, the Essential Cybersecurity Controls (ECC) were enacted by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA). This established 114 Cybersecurity Controls that describe the minimum cybersecurity measures to which organizations within the jurisdiction must adhere.
In March 2022, a draft version of the PDPL was published. This represents the first comprehensive data protection legislation in Saudi Arabia. The regulatory authority for the PDPL is currently the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA). Its responsibilities and powers in relation to the PDPL are broad ranging, and include offering advice and imposing hefty penalties for non-compliance. It will supervise the legislation's implementation for two years. Then these responsibilities will likely be transferred fully to the National Data Management Office (NDMO).
The PDPL has a broad scope, and organizations are looking for ways to simplify and secure their compliance obligations, including:
Due to this increasingly robust regulatory environment, organizations throughout the MENA region are seeking ways to achieve compliance and ensure data sovereignty and security with relative ease. Members of Team FileCloud were on hand at GITEX to answer multiple inquiries about FileCloud's secure Content Collaboration Platform (CCP), with its fully integrated compliance capabilities.
FileCloud Forging Partnerships at GITEX
Dubai Eye 103.8 conducted interviews with several key people from FileCloud at GITEX. Abdelhakim Ababsa, who leads EMEA Sales at FileCloud, spoke about digital transformation in the MENA region and the escalating need for compliant content collaboration solutions. He pointed out that government agencies cannot use public cloud solutions due to legal restrictions. This is why so many local governments, ministries, and enterprise organizations choose FileCloud as a secure, collaborative solution.
FileCloud CRO, Peter Melerud, explained the benefits of the FileCloud solution in allowing customers to operate private cloud deployments. This enables compliance with data residency and sovereignty requirements, as well as better security.
FileCloud CRO, Peter Melerud, Talking to Dubai Eye 103.8
Finally, the VP of Global Sales, Leigh Bradford, outlined the importance of the MENA region as a market for FileCloud. This is evidenced by the numerous government entities already using the solution. Leigh aims to develop new channels in the region, including government contractors, service providers, and systems integrators. He is optimistic about this goal. Governments in the region already trust FileCloud to provide a robust, bulletproof solution that complies with increasing regulatory demands.
For more information, and to get a taste of the GITEX buzz, see the interviews with the FileCloud team below!
Written by Deirdre Clancy, Technical Content and Communication Manager