ArabWeeks

• Official Country Partner for GITEX Technology Week launches dedicated website

• Conducts workshop for participants across different sectors

 Leading up to its largest ever participation at GITEX Technology Week 2016, The Saudi Ministry of Interior (MOI) has launched a brand new website dedicated to the event. The interactive online platform highlights the Ministry’s participation at the event as the Official Country Partner along with a showcase of the latest electronic services and smart solutions provided by the Ministry and its affiliates.

In preparation for the event, the Ministry also held an exclusive workshop on Sunday, the 9th of October, for its affiliates participating at the event. The MOI will be represented by a delegation that consists of 13 security service entities such as: National Information Center, Public Security, Traffic, Security Patrols, Civil Defense, Passports, Riyadh Region, Madinah Region, Reception Center and e-communication, National Center for Electronic Security, Civil Affairs, Security Planning and Development, and Unified Security Operations Center 911.

The workshop was to prepare participants and also focus on the close association between the Ministry’s participation at the event and the Kingdom’s plans to achieve the aspirations and objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 program and National Transformation in 2020.  

The Ministry of Interior pavilion will be present at stand #S-F1 at the at the Sheikh Saeed Hall at Gitex Technology Week 2016 that will be held from the 16th to the 20th of October at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

For more information, please visit: www.moi.gov.sa/wps/portal/departments/gitex2016

• Expands GEMTEC facility to 26,000 sq m to manufacture ‘Made in Saudi’ HA and F gas turbines
• Creates 150 new high quality jobs for Saudi nationals
• Delivers GEMTEC’s first 7F turbine to SEC’s Waad Al Shamal combined-cycle power plant

 GE today marked a significant milestone in its eight-decade-long presence in Saudi Arabia by officially opening Phase II of GE’s Manufacturing & Technology Center (GEMTEC) and announcing expanded capabilities including the ability to manufacture HA and F-class turbines at the facility. GE’s HA turbines are the world’s largest and most efficient, leading the industry in output.  

The opening today coincides with the completion and delivery of GEMTEC’s first 7F turbine to Saudi Electricity Company’s Waad Al Shamal combined-cycle power plant. GE’s Chairman & CEO Jeff Immelt joined senior officials of the company and partners to inaugurate the second phase of GEMTEC, which now joins the ranks of GE’s global gas turbine manufacturing facilities such as in Greenville, South Carolina and Belfort, France.

“GE has been on the ground in Saudi Arabia for more than 80 years,” said Immelt. “GEMTEC’s expansion and transformation is a significant milestone in our operations here in the Kingdom. This facility will serve as a manufacturing, repair and research hub that services a wide market. GE’s investment of digitally-driven advanced manufacturing capabilities in GEMTEC demonstrates our continued commitment to serving as a leading partner for transformational growth in Saudi Arabia.”

Phase II of GEMTEC will continue to develop an integrated industrial ecosystem in the Kingdom, through local, Saudi-driven manufacturing, services and R&D. It creates more than 150 high quality jobs for Saudi professionals and draws on more than 300 Saudi suppliers to provide gas turbine parts that are manufactured locally. The expansion also adds 9,000 sq m of manufacturing space to the facility, taking the total area to 26,000 sq m – the size of 100 tennis courts. In addition to the enhanced manufacturing competencies, the facility offers services and repairs for gas turbines, as well as the first balance of plant (BOP) test and inspection services in the region.

The expanded GEMTEC also has a dedicated Monitoring & Diagnostics Center – Saudi PowerGen Efficiency Center (SPEC) – for gas and steam turbines, which opened earlier this year. Another core component of the expansion is construction of a dedicated building for the Hot & Harsh Center of Excellence. Researchers there will study the effects of high temperature, dust, corrosion, erosion, duty cycle, and fuel harshness on the reliability and efficiency of power plants. This facility – expected to be complete by the end of 2016 – will design and prototype gas turbines and auxiliary components for testing.

Today’s announcement also marks the transformation of GEMTEC to a ‘Brilliant Factory,’ the first of its kind in the region. GE has introduced advanced digital industrial capabilities to GEMTEC, including sensor-enabled service center equipment to provide utilization and performance data in addition to diagnostics. GEMTEC also utilizes real-time monitoring of all utility consumption, and site equipment and infrastructure can be fully controlled and monitored remotely using GE’s brilliant manufacturing suite of services.

“With this expansion, GE can now build any heavy-duty gas turbine we offer right here in Saudi Arabia,” said Steve Bolze, President & CEO of GE Power. We’ve already completed an F turbine at GEMTEC, and we look forward to building our world-record-setting HA turbine in the Kingdom — for customers in the Kingdom and beyond.”

“Since its opening in 2011, GEMTEC has helped build a strong local manufacturing ecosystem that today benefits Saudi small and medium enterprises,” stated Hisham Al Bahkali, GE’s President & CEO for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. “Led by Saudi technical talent, the Center’s expansion enables us to serve our customers more efficiently – assuring not only repair services but ‘Made in Saudi’ heavy duty gas turbines with the shortest turnaround time. Our investment in localized manufacturing and research also highlights our commitment to the Saudi Vision 2030 to continue to strengthen the competitiveness of the local economy.”

As part of GE’s US$1 billion investment in the Kingdom, GEMTEC was expanded in 2012 intensifying its computerized numerical control (CNC) machining capabilities, coding and analytic services and robotics. With over 500 skilled workers, 70 percent of them Saudi professionals, GEMTEC today serves more than 70 customers from 40 countries around the world, servicing components from more than 600 turbines. More than 60 percent of all gas turbine manufacturing and components at GEMTEC are exported to customers around the globe, further strengthening Saudi Arabia’s competitiveness and supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 to create an exports hub.

As part of GE’s commitment to drive localization, GEMTEC also joined hands with National Power Academy (NPA) to train Saudi engineers to be a part of their skilled workforce. GE is also collaborating with KAUST and Technical & Vocational Training Center (TVTC) for training Saudi students for potential careers at GEMTEC. Of the 250 students trained to date, 200 are employed across diverse businesses of GE in the Kingdom including at GEMTEC.

With a presence of over 80 years, three offices and seven facilities, Saudi Arabia accounts for the largest GE workforce in the Middle East with over 2,000 employees driving the Aviation, Healthcare, Oil & Gas, Power and Transportation businesses.

• Acer Essentials introduces Saudi Arabian media to a stylish, sophisticated and convenient new collection from Acer
• During the event, media had the opportunity to interact with the new Spin and Swift lines from Acer
• Visitors competed in multiple rounds of Streetfighter 5 to test the prowess and capabilities of Acer’s Predator series

RIYADH (October 11, 2016) – Acer Essentials was the primary theme at Acer’s latest event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, held in Riyadh on October 11, 2016. During the event, the media, influencers and bloggers had an opportunity to experience the stylish, convenient and sophisticated range of devices essential for the discerning Saudi consumer. Consumers had the opportunity to experience the all-new line of Acer Spin and Swift laptops, as well as some existing device line ups. Addressing Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning gaming community, visitors had a change to go head to head with multiple games of Streetfighter 5 to test the prowess of Acer’s Predator series of laptops made for gaming.

Speaking about catering to the Saudi Arabian consumer, Kiran Borkar, ‎Regional Marketing Manager, ‎Acer Middle East and Africa, said: “Much like the modern Saudi consumer, our products are both convenient and sophisticated, and we are here today to celebrate the modern Saudi man and woman with products that will add value to the way they live their lives. Our device portfolio, including the all-new Swift and Spin devices, features modest, stylish, and lightweight, yet feature-heavy products with a blend of design and function. This event is a portrayal of just how Acer devices seamlessly fit into your everyday life.”

The event served as a powerful platform to shed light on Acer Essentials and, in particular, its new line-up of groundbreaking products.

Made to fit into your busy lifestyle, the new Swift series of ultra-thin and lightweight notebook PCs is comprised of four lines; the Swift 7, Swift 5, Swift 3 and Swift 1. All models feature Windows 10 and include a device for every budget and lifestyle. The extremely thin Swift 7, at 9.98 mm in height and weighing a mere 1.1 kg, provides incredible portability and up to 9 hours of battery life. Models in the Swift 5 and Swift 3 lines include premium features such as metal chassis, 7th Generation Intel® Core™ processors, Solid State Drives, USB 3.1 Type-C ports, fingerprint scanners and more.

Acer’s new Spin series convertible notebooks; Spin 7, Spin 5, Spin 3 and Spin 1, run on Windows 10, and incorporate innovative 360-degree hinges, along with Continuum, that enable them to be used in various ways: as a notebook or tablet, in a space-saving display mode, or in tent mode for sharing presentations or watching movies. Featuring a 14-inch display in a 13-inch chassis, the Spin 7’s all aluminum unibody is just 10.98 mm thin and weighs 1.2 kg, making it the world’s thinnest convertible notebook.

To bring gameplay immersion to the next level, the Predator series has recently undergone GPU refreshes to its Predator 15 and 17 gaming notebooks, featuring GPUs with the all-new NVIDIA Pascal architecture, with up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics and run on Windows 10. This brings the notebooks in line with Acer’s push to have the Predator series ready to power the latest VR devices.

For more information on Acer’s line up of products, please visit www.acer.ae.

F5 Networks today urged Saudi businesses to put application security at the heart of plans to support the Kingdom’s tech-driven and transformative 2030 Vision.

The global application security specialist highlighted the pitfalls and opportunities for business-leaders as it revealed findings from its first Annual State of Application Security report, which was conducted in partnership with the Ponemon Institute

“The proliferation of cutting-edge technology in Saudi Arabia is increasingly important as the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision is delivered. This is a genuinely transformative plan and applications will function as its central nervous system, empowering both individuals and business to prosper through new levels of flexibility and innovation,” said Mamduh Allam, Saudi Arabia General Manager, F5 Networks.

“However, the accountability for the security of applications appears to be in a state of flux, and IT departments still face significant barriers to ensure the integrity of these apps and the data they contain.”

The State of Application Security

50% of businesses run between 500 and 2,500 active applications, according to F5’s Application Security in the Changing Risk Landscape report.12% use more than 2,500.

Despite a third of all applications deemed critical to day-to-day activity, only 35% claimed to have the resources to detect vulnerabilities and as few as 30% said they had the technology to remediate the issues. A full 88% were concerned about new and emerging cyber-security threats weakening the future state of application security.

Worryingly, 43% also claimed to have no confidence that they knew all the applications in their organisation (23% were “somewhat confident”).

Allam explained that one of the biggest challenges business face is a sea-change in IT responsibility, particularly as applications become more central to delivering vital services, adaptive to mobile workforces and harnessing the Internet of Things.

F5’s survey found that 56% of respondents believe accountability for application security is shifting from IT to the end user or application owner. Wheras 21% respondents claimed the CIO or CTO is accountable, another 20% said nobody one had full ownership.

“We are finding that businesses are still coming to terms with the onslaught of new technologies, such as the Internet of Things infiltrating all aspects of our professional and personal lives. As a result, IT departments are often unprepared and under-resourced to implement sufficient defence strategies,” said Allam.

“Poor visibility on the application layer, application migration to the cloud, the proliferation of mobile devices and the lack of preparation of the development teams are among the main pitfalls faced by Saudi businesses today.”

Spotting the problem

In the past year, the most common security incidents due to insecure applications were SQL injections (29%), DDoS (25%) and Web fraud (21%).

Fifty percent of respondents reported that applications are attacked more frequently than the network layer, with 58% claiming these types of attack are more severe.

63% of respondents said application layer attacks are harder to detect than at the network layer and 67% indicated they were more difficult to contain. The majority of respondents (57%) noted that a lack of visibility in the application layer is an impediment to achieving a robust security posture.  In part, this can be attributed to the fact that network security is better funded than application security. F5’s report discovered that 18% of the IT security budget is dedicated to application security, whereas more than double that amount (an average of 39%) is allocated to network security.

Other significant barriers are created by migration to the cloud (47%), lack of skilled or expert personnel (45%) and the proliferation of mobile devices (43% respondents).

Indeed, the growth in mobile and cloud-based applications is seen as significantly affecting application security risk. 60% of respondents say mobile apps increase risk (25%) or increase risk significantly (35%). 51% of respondents say cloud-based applications increase risk (25%or increase risk significantly (26%).

Lack of testing, minding the skill gap and DevOps to the fore

Almost half of respondents said their organization does not test applications for threats and vulnerabilities (25%) or testing is not pre-scheduled (23%). Only 14% of respondents say applications are tested every time the code changes.

The situation is exacerbated by businesses having scant confidence that application developers in their organization practice secure design, development and testing of applications. When it comes to application development, 74% claim they are only somewhat confident (27% or have no confidence (47%) that practices such as input/output validation, defensive programming and appropriate compiler/linker security options are conducted.

Nevertheless, there is growing confidence that the increasing prominence and influence of DevOps or continuous integration will have a positive impact on application security.  35% of respondents say their organizations have adopted DevOps or continuous integration

practices into the application development lifecycle. 71% say this results in improved application security and enables them to respond quickly to security issues and vulnerabilities (56 percent of respondents).

The perceived cyber-security skill-gap is also a pressing issue. 69% of respondents believe the shortage of skilled and qualified application developers puts their applications at risk. Moreover, 67% say the “rush to release” causes application developers in their organization to neglect secure coding procedures and processes.

Trust is King

Recent F5 research highlights the importance of businesses tackling issues head-on or risk customer trust issues. A recent privacy and security survey among 1,000 Saudi consumers found that 59% are concerned that their data will fall into the wrong hands, followed closely by their privacy being compromised (57 per cent). However, Saudi consumers were consistently more willing to give up their data compared to consumers in Europe; only 8 per cent per stated they would not give up their data at all, compared to 33 per cent the UK.

While consumers in Saudi Arabia regarded banks as the most trustworthy companies (91 per cent), there is dissatisfaction in the methods used to protect their data. Consumers believed that banks (86 per cent), public sector and government (80 per cent), insurance (72 per cent) and healthcare (71 per cent), needed to field better authentication capabilities to achieve greater security.  Across EMEA, 88% of consumers felt strongly that organisations should improve authentication for greater security.

“Ultimately, application security is a collective responsibility,” added Allam.

“Stakeholders in the equation of a successful application deployment strategy should include the IT department, developers, DevOps and also company CIO or CTO executives who need to attribute more resources to this important area of business. Determining a sustainable ownership strategy for application security will help firms to deploy applications security across their employee network for 24-hour access, on any device and from any location.”