More than 300 experts in information and communications technology, led by Communication Authority Director-General Ezra Chiloba, Maureen Mbaka, the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of ICT, Immaculate Kassait, Data Protection Commissioner, and Col. Evans Ombati, Director of NC4, and Afke Schaart, Senior Vice President for Global Government Affairs at Huawei have convened in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa to assess the country’s cybersecurity status amid several reports that have pointed to a growing criminal threat.
They have converged at the 2022 edition of the annual ISACA Kenya Conference comprising some of the best minds in government and business to discuss and debate strategies and solutions needed to identify how technology can drive innovation and resilience in the economy and build resilient and secure technology systems.
Antony Muiyuro, President of the ISACA Kenya Chapter, said that some of the key issues the meeting is set to address include data protection, big data, the government’s preparedness, and the role of independently verifiable standards and certifications in ensuring the resilience of our networks and computer systems.
This conference comes close on the heels of the establishment of the National Computer & Cybercrimes Coordination Committee (NC4) in November 2021 and the subsequent appointment of Col. Evans Ombati as the organization’s Director. He will inform the meeting on the government’s Co-ordination and Collaboration for Cyber Resilience programs, particularly in the context of the gazettement of critical infrastructure under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.
CA, Safaricom, and Huawei partner to bridge the cybersecurity talent gap
It is one of the largest in-person technology meetings over the past two years on the Covid 19 pandemic and comes amidst rising cybersecurity threats and tremendous interest amongst Kenyans in cybersecurity, especially with the upcoming election and dramatic rise in the use of e-commerce and various apps for doing business.
Private sector speakers include Tedd Ocholla, Senior Manager at Safaricom Managed Services, who will address re-imagining cyber resilience and Geoffrey Odundo, the CEO of Nairobi Securities Exchange expected to discuss technology innovation and resilience in the capital markets.
ISACA Kenya is an association of professionals in the IT-related industry founded in Kenya in December 1999 by a group of volunteers. ISACA members are committed to supporting enterprise objectives through the development, provision, and promotion of research, standards, competencies, and practices for the effective governance, control, and assurance of information systems and technology.
The primary purpose of the Chapter is to promote the education of individuals for the improvement and development of their capabilities relating to the auditing of, management consulting in, or direct management of the fields of IT governance, IS audit, security, control, and assurance.
Many of the leading organizations in Kenya are supporting the conference including the Communications Authority of Kenya, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner from the government, Huawei, Galvanize, Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Safaricom, and Serianu amongst many others from the private sector