The 6th Edition of the Gulf Congress on Cybersecurity is an invite-only event that seeks to bring industry professionals together to discuss the opportunities and challenges around cybersecurity. This event is organized by Agora Group, an international company that connects firms to African and Arab markets. The Gulf Congress is a melting pot for CEOs, CIOs, COOs, and key decision-makers across governments, where they meet, brainstorm, and learn about emerging trends on cyber security.
Over the years, the Gulf Congress has morphed into a global event that is a must-attend for policy-makers across industries and governments. It continues to attract top professionals from industries such as finance, tech, oil and gas and healthcare. Some of the benefits of attending this event are: you get a chance to meet and interact with the movers and shakers of global trade. Secondly, since it is an invite-only event, attendees get a chance to have one-on-one meetings. Finally, buyers and sellers get a chance to have meetings that have been pre-arranged.
Discussion topics for this year’s congress will include the following: Supply Chain Risks and Cloud Security Challenges, Forensic and Cyber Crime, Virtual Reality, and DeepFake. This year’s event is scheduled to be held on the 9th of May 2023 in Dubai, UAE. It’s a one-day event that will include multiple activities that will start in the morning, with registrations and key presentations, and end in the evening with a training session.
Notable speakers who will grace this year’s event are: Anett Numa, a defense advisor to the Ministry of Estonia, Dr. Hoda AlkhZaimi, Co-chair of the World Economic Forum, and Mehran Muslimi, a world-renowned Fintech, and Blockchain Consultant. Mr. Muslimi is a senior tech consultant, angel investor, and entrepreneur with interests in blockchain, cryptocurrency, and cyber-security. Mehran has worked on multiple IT projects, with the most notable one being the development of a mobile VOIP application 9 months before the development of Viber. He is currently actively involved in blockchain space with multiple ongoing projects in the fintech ecosystem.
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One of the largest tech events in the Gulf, the 6th Gulf Congress on Cyber Security, is set to be held on May 9th, 2023, in Dubai, UAE. The event is expected to attract a large number of participants from various industries, including banking, finance, insurance, healthcare, and technology. This global event provides a platform for participants to share their experiences and insights on different aspects of cybersecurity, including challenges, best practices, and emerging trends.
The event will have several keynote speakers who are experts in the field of cybersecurity. Some previous speakers who have graced this event include Hamad Al Khatheri, who is the Chief Cyber Security Officer in the Saudi Government and H.E. Dr. Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, the head of Cyber Security in the UAE. This year’s speakers include notable figures like Tony Hasek, Goldilock CEO, Hesham Saad from Microsoft and Mehran Muslimi, a renowned fintech and blokchain consultant.. Mr. Muslimi is a well-known name in the fintech industry and has been instrumental in the development of several blockchain-based financial solutions. His talk is expected to cover the latest developments in blockchain-based cybersecurity solutions and their potential to address the growing threat of cybercrime.
The event will have several panel discussions where experts will discuss topics such as supply chain and cloud security, virtual reality, deep fake, and forensic and cybercrime. The panel discussions will provide a platform for participants to ask questions and engage in discussions on various cybersecurity-related topics.
Overall, this congress is a melting pot for top companies and professionals who have an interest in cybersecurity. Some of the global companies that have actively supported this congress are General Electric, Huawei, IBM, and Armis. The 6th Edition of the Gulf Congress is set up by Agora Group, a company based in the UAE, which focuses on connecting companies to the Arab and African markets.
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Ark Invest is an investment management firm focused on innovative technologies and disruptive trends. In its 2023 report, Ark Invest outlines its views on the 14 sectors it believes will experience exponential growth in the coming years. The 14 big ideas, according to the report, are:
Technological convergence
Multiple technologies interact with each other to bring exponential growth. The report states they are in five categories and will be worth $200 trillion by 2030. The tech that will converge are cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, genetic sequencing, robotics, and energy storage. The most significant part of those technologies is neural networks, also known as AI.
2. Artificial Intelligence/AI
This will increase productivity as workers rely on AI to help with repetitive tasks. Companies like Microsoft and Google could be big players in AI as they can access large amounts of data.
3. Digital consumers
People will spend more time online, assumingly consuming short-form content. Gaming will be more popular due to immersive gaming experiences. NFT will increase in popularity due to gaming.
4. Digital wallet
According to the report, 65% of the planet’s population will use digital wallets by 2030 compared to the 40% who use digital wallets today. The numbers started rising during the pandemic and are going up. Digital wallets enable direct payments by eliminating intermediaries. This will create high profits for digital wallet providers at the expense of traditional finance. Closed-loop transactions are already common in China and will be worldwide with time.
5. Public Blockchains/cryptocurrencies
The crypto Market has lost a significant percentage of its market cap due to calamities such as the collapse of FTX.
Three technological revolutions are driven by cryptocurrency; the money revolution, the financial revolution, and the internet revolution. The report predicts that the total market cap of cryptocurrency will be $25 trillion in 2030.
6. Bitcoin
The report’s authors predict that one BTC will be worth $1 million by 2030 if we go by the total crypto market cap predictions.
They also highlight that BTC’s fundamentals are better than ever, e.g., institutional investors’ adoption, etc.
7. Smart contracts
Smart contracts are the ideal alternative to all the centralized intermediaries in crypto that failed last year. It is hard for decentralization to work without smart contracts. Smart contracts act as a hedge in different activities such as DeFi, decentralized borrowing, lending, decentralized exchanges, etc.
8. Precision Therapies
Precision therapies are different as they are patient-centric and target the root cause of disease, not symptoms. This does not mean root causes like poor lifestyle but technologies like artificial intelligence, AI, DNA and RNA sequencing, CRISPR Gene editing, and laboratory automation. It involves giving recommendations that are specifically tailored to your genetics. The authors reveal that Gene editing is close to going mainstream.
9. Molecular cancer diagnostics
Early diagnosis means early treatment, which means a lower chance that people die from cancer.
Advances in molecular technology also mean you can test someone for cancer using non-invasive means. These advancements in testing will also make it easier to detect cancer recurrence. It could lead to 20% year-on-year profits for cancer-related Industries until 2030.
10. Electric Vehicles
The report suggests that supply constraints could make it hard for the EV market to grow beyond a certain point.
Global automakers have investment plans to introduce EVs. If petrol cars are outlawed, a disconnect in supply and demand could make the costs of producing Evs high.
So far, sales of EVS have been exponential compared to expectations.
11. Autonomous ride-hail or autonomous Transportation
In the report, statistics show that the cost of traveling one mile has stayed the same in 100 years when adjusted for inflation. The costs will finally come down with autonomous vehicles. It will be an excellent alternative for those who cannot afford EVs.
Autonomous taxis are already here, and their numbers are growing with time.
12. Autonomous Logistics
It means automated delivery. Drones and robots will increase in numbers making everything cheaper. Autonomous trucks will eventually become cheaper than trains for supply chain purposes.
13. Robotics and 3D printing
These industries could grow from 70 billion to over 9 trillion by 2030.
Amazon is leading when it comes to 3D printing. 3D printing will be used in every industry but is currently facing setbacks due to the cost of materials, a shortage of qualified personnel, and design issues.
14. Orbital Aerospace
It means all space-related technology. There are reusable rockets that will rapidly reduce space exploration costs, courtesy of companies like SpaceX.
Reusable rockets will also reduce the cost of sending satellites to space for global networks. The cost of space-based global networks will continue to fall, making the internet affordable for everyone. Reusable Rockets will make hypersonic flight more affordable.
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The Bank of International Settlements, BIS, recently released a report titled “ Prudential Treatment of Crypto Asset Exposure.” According to this report, the BIS, which essentially is the Central Bank for all Central banks, released guidelines and operating procedures on how Central Banks can own crypto assets on their portfolios. This comes as a surprise considering the BIS and Central Banks around the world have been increasingly vocal in their opposition towards decentralized cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This article summarizes this report and lists some of the key highlights the report.
Details of the Report
The guidelines listed in the report are to be implemented by the 1st of January 2025. The report contains standards that will be used by Central Banks across the world to purchase crypto assets and include them on their balance sheets. It was drafted in close consultation with central bank Governors across the world. The aim of this report is two-fold: Firstly, to provide guidelines through which Central banks across the world can hold crypto assets. Secondly, the report aims to preserve financial stability across the globe.
Crypto Asset categories
According to the standard issued, crypto assets will be grouped into two categories: Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1 (a) crypto assets will include tokenized security assets such as stocks and bonds.Group 1 (b) will include centralized stablecoins. Group 2 (a) crypto assets include all decentralized cryptocurrencies as such ETH and BTC. For crypto to be considered as Group 2 (a) crypto, then it has to have a market cap of over $10 billion and a daily trading volume of over $ 50 MILLION. Group2 (b) crypto lumps together all other alt-coins
Before a central bank opts to purchase any crypto assets, there are additional requirements that should be met. Additionally, a rigorous risk test will be carried out to know whether to place a crypto asset in Group 1 or Group 2. Also, if an asset is placed as a group 2 asset, then there is a maximum exposure limit- the maximum amount that can be invested. This exposure limit is currently set at not more than 2% of the bank’s total capital.
Role of BIS in Crypto regulation.
The roles that BIS will play in implementing these new guidelines will be as follows:
· Monitoring the implementation of the standards stated in the report
· Make additional changes and improvements to the report
· Monitor central banks across the world as they implement these new standards.
Central banks will also be required to report to the BIS the crypto assets they are holding and consult with the BIS before classifying a crypto asset as either Group 1 or Group 2. Though not explicitly stated, this essentially means that the BIS will have a sole mandate on giving the go-ahead on whether a central bank can make purchases and how to grade the various crypto assets.
Conclusion
Industry insiders agree that this move may prove to be bullish for crypto assets and especially BTC as central banks have the capacity to provide immense liquidity to the crypto market. However, we also run the risk of centralizing some of these crypto assets as central banks have ‘limitless’ capital to buy large amounts of any particular asset and wield control over it. A good example of how Central banks may wield control over crypto is through the use of synthetic stable coins- basically, stablecoins that have been issued using the native currency of a given country. It is interesting to note that this report mentions nothing about CBDCs. It is assumed that the BIS know that some central banks may lack the technical capacity to implement CBDCs within their jurisdictions. Synthetic stablecoins seem to be a viable option at this stage. Having a huge stake in these stablecoins essentially means that Central banks can have a say in their performance.
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Mehran Muslimi 