São Paulo – With 80 million fixed and mobile internet users, the Arab world is faced with the challenge of ensuring privacy and security to its web users despite attempts at government control. The way to go about tackling this issue will be the main topic addressed by Nizzar Zakka, secretary general of the Union of Arab Information and Communication Technology Organizations (Ijma3), during the World Summit of Public IT Policies, due on November 12th and 13th in São Paulo.
“We work for internet freedom. Due to the Arab Spring, social media had a strong impact in the region. We want to make sure that governments will not control the internet,” said Zakka in a telephone interview to ANBA. The executive will take part in the panel Internet Governance, due on the 12th and discussing topics such as cybercrime, spam, privacy violations, regulation and monitoring.
Organized by the Brazilian Organization of Information Technology Companies (Assespro Nacional), in partnership with the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), this will be the first Summit held in Brazil.
The main theme of the event will be effective public policies to bring the promises of the Digital Age to fruition. The conference will be attended by government officials and Brazilian and international companies. They will discuss social development policies based on technological resources.
Established in 2004, the Ijma3 comprises technology associations from Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The organization’s headquarters are located in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
“We work to raise awareness, promote freedom of expression and access to the web everywhere in the Arab world,” he explained. He believes the organization has been successful in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, in which social networks have played a key role in popular uprisings.
Zakka says care must be taken for cyber security and privacy to complement one another, rather than compete. “We must know how to address privacy in a environment with little surveillance,” he said. To the Ijma3 secretary general, it is important to ensure that governments will not use the privacy issue to control the internet.
The executive said he is expecting a great event in Brazil. “There are strong connections between Brazil and the Arab world. We want Brazil to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them,” he said. Zakka also believes good partnerships may be established between private technology companies in Brazil and the Arab countries. “We can tell that many opportunities are available, especially for Brazilian companies to operate in the Middle East,” he said.
Zakka was born in Lebanon and educated in the United States. In 1990, he graduated in Computer Sciences and Mathematics from the University of Texas. Aside from being the Ijma3 secretary general, he is the vice president of WITSA.
Service
World Summit of Public IT Policies
Date: November 12 and 13, 2013
Address: Rebouças Convention Centre: Av. Rebouças, 600, São Paulo
Registration is available at http://gpats2013.org/web/inscricoes.
Price: R$ 1,180.00 (US$ 528)
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
