Saudi Arabia’s elite 350+ Cyber Security, IT & OT Security Experts, Leaders & Government Officials meet in Dammam for exclusive Cyber Security Summit.
In an exclusive interview at the recently concluded CYSEC Saudi Summit & Awards 2023 (6th global edition), Huawei’s top executive Dr. Aloysius Cheang – President & Chief Security Officer Middle East & Central Asia had an interesting interview where he sheds light on Huawei’s Vision in innovation and cybersecurity and its contribution towards the Kingdom Saudi Arabia and Vision 2030.
Can you shed some light on Huawei’s latest technology Innovations?
Dr. Aloysius Cheang: Huawei is a company that has always been focused on technical excellence. Over the last 2-3 years, the company increased investment in R&D to keep innovating for the future, create new value for its customers, partners, and the communities worldwide, and promote quality development. We have spent over $20 billion in R&D annually where 5% are allocated for cybersecurity. And last year, we allocated over $23 billion in R&D where we held a total of 120,000+ active patents. On top of this, we have invested an additional 2 billion to enhance our cyber security product.
How does Huawei compare to your major competitors?
Dr. Aloysius Cheang: Let’s not rely on my opinion alone. Third-party experts such as analysts, Professional Associations, and Standard Setting organizations have recognized our achievements. Gartner consistently places us as the leader in their Magic Quadrant for Firewall, and this year, we were also placed in the Leadership Quadrant for our anti-ransomware storage product. We actively contribute to the development of global standards and best practices as acknowledged by organizations like ITU-T, ISOs, GSMA, and 3GPP and the OIC-CERT. These accolades and recognitions from experts and industry partners affirm Huawei’s cyber security excellence and the impeccable quality of our products and services.
Moving on to 5G and Huawei, could you provide some insights from Huawei’s platform?
Dr. Aloysius Cheang: During MWC Barcelona 2023, Huawei showcased leading technologies, new business opportunities, and industry progress in the 5.5G era. The company aims to work with carriers and industry partners around the world to further the evolution of ICT infrastructure, lay the foundation for the 5.5G era, and build on the success of 5G for even greater prosperity. With the arrival of the 5.5G era, people will be able to enjoy true-to-life experience such as 3D video. With the maturity of the RedCap technology and the innovation of the Passive IoT technology, the industry digitalization process will be accelerated. We hope that all device and application partners, local content partners and policy makers can work together to create more values to society with the 5.5G era.
More recently, Huawei held the 5.5G summit, led by the UAE TDRA, where etisalat by e&, du, infraX, Quanray, HTC, Lierda, and Huawei jointly launched the 5.5G OpenLab. The lab is dedicated to building a 5.5G ecosystem alliance, testing ecosystem interoperability, and developing advanced use cases for consumers, homes, and industry sectors. Moreover, Huawei is a leader in the field of Fiber 5.5G, during the summit Huawei also launched FWA², a new generation HBB service that is supported by advanced 5.5G technology.
At Huawei, we are committed to maintaining that leadership through innovation, our investment in R&D for last year alone reached $23.22 billion, but we plan to surpass this figure because we believe that innovation is a key differentiator for us.
Development and customer services are crucial aspects. How does Huawei prioritize these areas?
Dr. Aloysius Cheang: Customer service is at the core of our strategy. Whenever a product issue arises, such as here in Saudi Arabia, we will immediately activate a team on the ground to resolve the problem. Our commitment to customer service can even involve deploying engineers from the global product team onto the ground within 24 hours to address the issue. Huawei’s dedication to customer service sets us apart in comparison to other companies, and being a company whereby 55.4% of our workforce, worked in R&D it does help to make a difference.
Lastly, could you share your vision for future technology and Huawei’s role in it?
Dr. Aloysius Cheang: Our vision at Huawei is to build a trusted, connected intelligent world. Let me break it down. “Trusted” means that our services are secure from the start, with solutions built to prioritize trust and resiliency. Cybersecurity is deeply ingrained in our people, business processes and company DNA. “Connected” highlights our leadership in connectivity, whether through 5G or 5.5G networks. We aim to bridge the connectivity gap globally, ensuring seamless connectivity by land and air. “Intelligent” involves leveraging AI to support and automate processes, including responding to cybersecurity demands. AI helps us manage and analyse vast amounts of data efficiently. We also develop AI solutions embedded in our products and services while providing the necessary storage and computational power through Huawei Cloud. In Saudi Arabia, we are emphasizing our investment in Huawei Cloud where $400 million investment was made regionally to establish a cloud region in the country. Our goal is to bridge the digital divide, creating an inclusive digital future for everyone through our talent cultivation initiatives. Huawei has a long and proud history of collaboration with governments, academia and industry to enrich the region’s ICT talent ecosystem. CSR initiatives such as Seeds for the Future, the annual Huawei ICT Competition, Huawei ICT Academy, joint innovation centers, labs and other CSR initiatives empower thousands of youth annually to supercharge their ICT careers. In the Middle East, Huawei has set up 186 Huawei ICT Academies, and more than 4,000 students have participated in the flagship program Seeds for the Future, while over 57,000 people have obtained Huawei certification. We also have trained over 150,000 ICT talents for the Middle East and are committed to achieving more in collaboration with our partners. Technology is for all, and we strive to make breakthrough. And as we embrace our digital future, cyber security is the fundamental towards business success for any enterprise and is key to unlock prosperity and progress for the nation!
CYSEC Saudi Summit & Awards 2023 (6th global edition) hosted a series of thought-provoking Keynotes & panel discussions participated by esteemed industry leaders & visionaries such as Ed Sleiman – Head of Special Projects (Former CISO) KAUST, Dr. Hussain Al Wasly, Director of Information Technology, NEOM Green Hydrogen Company and Alaa K Falimban Manager, Cyber Security Operations, Saudi Arabian Mining Company (MA’ADEN) to name a few, who delivered inspiring presentations offering unique perspectives on emerging cyber security trends, strategies, and the evolving threat landscape. Attendees gained invaluable insights into the current state of cyber security and learned about cutting-edge approaches to secure digital ecosystems.
The event also had an impactful networking floor that was buzzing non-stop along with a live showcase of cutting-edge cyber technology by global companies such as Huawei, Kaspersky, DarkKnight, Netwitness, SolarWinds, PaloAlto, Resilience, Cipher, SSH, Bulwark, Mimecast, Quest, Honeywell, LogRythm, Barracuda, ManageEngine, Novigo and Binalayze. The C-level attendees had the opportunity to get hands-on experience of new age cyber tech and explore topics such as penetration testing, incident response, secure coding practices, encryption technologies and more.
Looking ahead, CYSEC Global remains committed to fostering collaboration and innovation in the cyber security realm and hopes to be a valuable contributor towards Saudi Arabia’s Vision2030.
The organizers are already planning the upcoming 7th global edition – CYSEC UAE 2023 in Abu Dhabi on 12 September 2023, aiming to make it an even more comprehensive and impactful gathering for cyber security professionals in the region.
For more information about CYSEC UAE 2023, including details about future events, please visit https://uae.cysecglobal.com/.
