Tashkent, 31 August 2022 (TDI): Bobur Usmanov, the Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) of the President of Uzbekistan, remarked about the forum’s relevance and importance.
A news conference was conducted at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications under the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan on the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization scientific and professional meeting on information security.
The meeting will be held in Tashkent on September 6. Bobur Usmanov, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan (ISRS), talked during a news conference on the forum’s timeliness and importance.
According to him, the event is being prepared as part of the actual implementation of the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, put forward on September 17, 2021, at the Dushanbe Summit of the Council of Heads of State of SCO Member States.
During the meeting, the President of Uzbekistan emphasized the importance of intensifying efforts to ensure peace & stability in the SCO space.
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Likewise, he also underscored ensuring regular discussion of the current situation and agreement on joint measures to counter challenges and threats, including in the information field.
“In this regard, the head of our state proposed to hold an SCO expert forum on information security. This would make it possible to develop coordinated measures to adequately respond to modern threats and challenges in cyberspace,” the expert emphasized.
Bobur Usmanov highlighted certain statistics when discussing the SCO member nations’ ability to ensure information security.
Russia and India are among the top ten countries in the 2021 Global Cybersecurity Index, while China and Kazakhstan are in the top 40.
The index considers legal, technical, and organizational elements, as well as the potential for development and cooperation with other countries.
It was observed that information security is becoming increasingly crucial in Uzbekistan’s overall system of national security and regional stability.
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Simultaneously, the cross-border nature of the difficulties and threats in this sector necessitates the continuous development of collaborative activities at the bilateral, regional, and international levels.
The event is timely and important since, despite governments’ efforts, there is an exacerbation of risks to information security, including an increase in the activity of extremist and terrorist organizations in the virtual domain.
Moreover, from 2018 through 2021, the SCO states limited access to almost 500,000 terrorist Internet materials.
To prevent the active recruitment of nationals of SCO member states into areas of terrorist activity, 6 modes of transportation, over 5,000 bank accounts, and 24 avenues of terrorist financing were banned.
The organization of the expert forum will also assist in the practical implementation of the SCO Plan for Cooperation in the Field of International Information Security and the use of scientific potential to counter common threats and challenges.
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The Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the Uzbek President is currently completing preparations for this forum, which is being organized with the support of the Ministry for Development of Information Technologies & Communications of Uzbekistan.
The Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is also collaborating in this regard. The background of the participants confirms the topic’s relevance.
The event is scheduled to be attended by SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming, Director of the Executive Committee of SCO RATS Ruslan Mirzaev.
Prominent professionals from key ministries & departments, scientific, academic, & analytical circles of member states of the organization will also participate.
Uzbekistan will be represented at the level of senior officials of the Presidential Administration, relevant ministries for IT and communications development, foreign affairs, and specialized departments.
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These include the National Center for Human Rights, State Inspectorate for Control in the Sphere of Informatization and Telecommunications, Center for Development of Information Technologies and Information Resources, Uzbektelecom, and Cybersecurity Center.
The event will cover a wide range of topics, including cooperation in countering cyber threats, safeguarding human rights in the context of combating cyber threats, expanding the role of the SCO, and boosting inter-state contact in this area.
“The expert forum will make it possible to reach the adoption of coordinated and complementary measures in the field of information security.
This will significantly increase the efficiency of the work carried out in this area within the SCO states,” the Deputy Director of the ISRS stated.
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