IT-Science Talk for Alumni in Egypt on “Cyber Security – Importance and Implementation at Scientific Institutions and Research Facilities”
Increasingly, research institutions and scholars are targets for theft of protected data, extortion to secure these data, and foreign economic and scientific espionage. Thus, the protection of data and the prevention of cyber-attacks as well as conscious handling of information and data is more important than ever. In order to address this pressing issue and to illuminate it from different perspectives as well as to raise the awareness of the individual for the importance of cyber security in the field of science and research, the DAAD Regional Office Cairo conducted a virtual IT-Science Talk for Alumni in Egypt on the 3rd of June 2021. The event catered to the importance and implementation of cyber security in the field of science and research.
In the spirit of the DAAD motto “Change by Exchange”, the talk facilitated an opportunity for around 50 Alumni and partners of the DAAD in Cairo to share views on the topic across national borders. Through keynotes by German and Egyptian high-profile speakers, matchmaking and networking, cognizance of cyber security was initiated from different perspectives. Besides the theoretical aspect of critically reviewing the potentials of cyber security at the governmental and institutional level, practical security tools and approaches for future inter-disciplinary innovative cyber security research was as well presented.
Ms. Isabell Mering, Director of the DAAD Regional Office Cairo, introductory outlined the talk’s concept. By mentioning recent incidents of cyber-attacks at scientific institutions, she proved cyber security as a pressing issue and an imperative task. In line, H. E. Dr Cyrill Jean Nunn, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Arab Republic of Egypt, honoured the talk by enriching Greeting Words. He addressed cyber-attacks among recent news items from the German authority’s perspective, welcoming the German Parliament’s adoption of the IT security Act 2.0 last May. Observing in Germany’s labor market the prominence of Egyptians, “of which not a few work in the field of cyber security and computer technology”, he celebrated the opportunity for bridge-building during the event.