Dubai Smart Government hosts meeting for government entities on how to implement Information Security Regulation

]UAE, Dubai, July 31, 2013[ Dubai Smart Government has recently organized a meeting for local government entities to raise awareness about the Dubai Government Information Security Regulation (ISR), which was recently approved in both Arabic and English. The new regulation focuses on managing the government information security environment and setting controls that govern it through the development of an integrated and unified policy for information security and the issuance of regulations for the local government, to work in a secure and reliable environment for information storage. The meeting, which provided comprehensive details about ISR and guidelines regarding its implementation, received a large turnout from the information technology and security sector and the teams that will implement the ISR in the local government entities. The meeting was held in collaboration with Dubai Government's Information Security Committee, and focused on the details of resolution No 13 for 2012, which was issued by the Dubai Executive Council, to adopt the best practices that will reduce the risk of information security violations within the framework of the integration of roles among government entities in Dubai. The meeting also included a detailed explanation of the main structure of ISR which is composed of 12 domains, each of which takes into consideration one major class of information security or more, these being Governance, Operation and Assurance, at the level of governmental entities, in accordance with common standards. Further, another presentation addressed the guidelines governing the process of ISR implementation according to the timeframe specified by the Information Security Committee, and how to make optimal use of Dubai Smart Government's technical support system, which enables receiving inquiries and suggestions related to government entities with regard to the Information Security Regulation, in a bid to raise the levels of user satisfaction. Wesam Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Smart Government and member of Dubai Government's Information Security Committee, said: “Dubai is steadily marching towards achieving global leadership as a knowledge-based economy. The Information Security Regulation helps Dubai's efforts to establish a culture of information security among local government entities, which have always strived to provide a secure and reliable environment to store and secure the information of clients and maintain the privacy of government transactions.” “The adoption of a unified system to ensure the sustainability and security of information represents a quantum leap in our efforts to address the urgent need to adopt an integrated methodology to process, manage, update, store and transfer the vast amount of information available to government entities. The importance of this is further underscored when we take into account the rapid developments that have paved the way for Dubai to become a knowledge-based society, as well as meet the smart government requirements by providing innovative and secure services and applications for clients according to global standards. ISR provides a solid platform for optimal investment in advanced IT infrastructure that supports the wise leadership's vision to become one of the top countries in the world by 2021,” he added. The meeting is part of a series of regular awareness meetings organized by the Information Security Section at Dubai Smart Government to introduce government entities in Dubai to the implementation methods of the Information Security Regulation before these entities submit their plans to Dubai Government's Information Security Committee ahead of the deadline set for the end of September 2013 by the committee during the First Information Security Forum held last May. The 12 domains which constitute the structure of information security are Information Security Management and Governance; Information Asset Management; Information Security Risk Assessment; Incident Management; Access Control; Operations, Systems and Communication Management; Business Continuity Planning; Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Management; Environmental and Physical Security; Human Resource Security; Compliance and Audit; and Information Security Assurance and Performance Measurement.