Saudi Arabia Presents its Contributions in the ITU Council Working Group Meeting; the Saudi Model Used for Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience During the G20, and Efforts to Protect Children in the Cyber world

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chaired the Council Working Group (CWG) meeting on international internet-related public policy. The meeting began its agenda at the start of the week with attendance from His Excellency ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Malcom Johnson and a number of Member States representatives.
The meeting started with an open consultation session around the challenges and opportunities with relevant stakeholders concerned with international internet-related public policy issues; in order to expand internet access, especially to remote areas and areas that have yet to receive services. The role of government and non-government agencies in overcoming these challenges. Attendees also discussed input of 23 entities from different stakeholders.
The Kingdom presented its contributions during the meeting by sharing with Member States the Saudi model for strengthening cybersecurity resilience. The Kingdom followed this model during its G20 Presidency year and the Leaders’ Virtual Summit, at which the Kingdom, represented by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA), was keen to develop the model as a comprehensive and trusted reference for the countries that will chair future G20 Summits and all major conference organizers.
Additionally, The Kingdom presented its contribution to protecting children in the cyber world, represented by the global program for Creating a Safe and Prosperous Cyberspace for Children. The program was created in partnership with the ITU, along with a number of other efforts to fulfill the goals of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s initiative for protecting children in the cyber world.
Furthermore, a number of Member States provided contributions regarding the ITU’s role and its Member States in ensuring the trust and security of the internet on a global level; in addition to the current global governance system for managing and developing internet resources including critical infrastructure.
Chairman of the CWG, Deputy Governor of the international cooperation sector at the NCA, Eng. Majed bin Mohammed Al-Mazyed said during this event that since taking leadership of this group after its founding in 2009, The Kingdom has actively participated in meetings with a large number of Member States by presenting contributions that ensure the efficiency of the CWG meetings’ outcomes regarding international internet-related public policy issues. He also called for utilizing the outcomes of the CWG discussions of many important topics like international public-policy issues in order to harness emerging technology for sustainable development as well as matters concerning the reinforcement of trust and security in the internet. All outcomes of the aforementioned discussions can be found on the CWG page on the ITU’s website. He added that the group agreed during the meeting to hold open discussions on the internet and international public policies’ role in reducing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
It is worth noting that The International Telecommunication Union in Geneva is the United Nations’ international specialized agency for information and communication technologies. It is considered to be an international platform for governments to discuss international internet-related public policy issues and draft resolutions and recommendations for said issues.