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Cyber security and the Kingdom of Bahrain

On the 4th April the Bahrain Economic Development Board, together with techUk, held a briefing on opportunities for cyber security companies in the Gulf region.

In 2016 bilateral trade between UK & Bahrain totalled over GBP250million and there are currently 500 UK entities and over 90 businesses registered and operating in the Kingdom, a figure which is growing as companies doing business in the GCC recognise the potential of Bahrain as a strategic gateway to this high growth tech market. Evidence of Bahrain’s popularity has been seen, for example, in Huawei’s decision to use the Kingdom as its regional Headquarters.

Driven by cyber attacks on the oil and gas as well as financial services sectors, which in some instance has resulted in a massive loss of data and internal damage to these institutions, cyber security is now a top priority for any business operating in the wider Middle East. In fact the cyber security market in the Gulf is estimated to grow to $9billion by 2020. Consequently, the demand for cyber expertise among companies working in the tech sector has increased significantly.

Currently, there is a lack of awareness among companies operating in the region about how to build cyber resilience, and concerns are only intensified by the limited domestic cyber talent available in the region.

Nevertheless, the Bahrain Government has made important steps towards investing in the infrastructure and technologies that will allow for companies to thrive in the Middle East cyber market. In recent years, for example, the Kingdom has pioneered the region’s first cloud-based Accelerator Programme. The programme, developed by C5 (a London-based company), in conjunction with Amazon Web Services, encourages the adoption of cloud computing by local and regional businesses.

Late last year C5 announced the launch of its Cloud 10 accelerator growth platform, which is in the process of helping new tech companies upscale their businesses with the aid of cloud technology. The Cloud 10 programme is aiming to create 300 ‘EMEA technology champions’ over the next four years.

techUK will been keen to see how the Cloud 10 Programme develops and will continue to work with partners to promote opportunities for the cyber security sector in the region.

 

Channel website: http://www.techuk.org/

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