Huawei Forum discusses the need for collaboration and trust in a shared cyberspace
On the sidelines of MWC Shanghai 2021, Huawei held a panel discussion with the theme “Collaboration and Trust in a Shared Cyberspace” and came up with the need for common standards, shared responsibilities and a trusted Ecosystem.
The event brought together representatives from various institutions worldwide, including the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Malaysian telecom regulator CyberSecurity Malaysia, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), Dutch operator VEON, and Fudan University.
They were joined, online and offline, by more than 2,500 participants from over 20 countries. The discussions revolved around promoting unified cybersecurity standards, and the participants called for an open, transparent, thriving global ecosystem that benefits all.
The panellists during the discussion analysed 2020 as a year unlike any other. They came up with their thoughts on how the pandemic has changed how organisations operate and how individuals live.
Remote working
A few others also introspected on remote working, online learning, and telemedicine are here to stay. In a time of social distancing, the speakers also suggested that networks are bringing the stakeholders closer than ever.
However, as digital technologies continue to gain traction, the speakers said the stakeholders themselves are facing more and more cybersecurity challenges.
Forum attendees stressed the importance of developing widely-accepted security standards, in order to drive consensus on the security of telecom networks and effectively ensure the security of equipment manufacturing and operations.
GSMA Chief Regulatory Officer John Giusti highlighted that NESAS, jointly defined by 3GPP and GSMA, provides an industry-wide security assurance framework to facilitate improvements in security levels across the mobile industry.
Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau (ITU-T) Chaesub Lee added that cyberspace doesn’t recognise national boundaries and that its security needs internationally harmonized standards.
Digital awareness
VEON Co-CEO Kaan Terzioğlu also pointed out that cybersecurity has been taken purely as a technical issue, but today we are witnessing the impact of the gap in digital awareness, literacy, and citizenship.
“Closing this gap in digital awareness, literacy, and citizenship is as critical to our security in the digital space as having the technologies to prevent breaches,” said Kaan Terzioğlu.
CyberSecurity Malaysia CEO Dato’ Ts Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab shared the same view by stating that Objective and fair digital security rules help ICT industry stakeholders carry out constructive competition and cooperation.
“Based on a shared vision, CSM uses a collaborative innovation public-private partnership scheme to mitigate cybersecurity risks, improve security protection, and guarantee social and economic prosperity and development together with all stakeholders,” said Dato’ Ts Dr. Amirudin Abdul Wahab.
Huawei’s Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Officer (GSPO) Office Director Sean Yang emphasised that openness and inclusion are the keys to future prosperity in the digital world.
“Our company’s desire for comprehensive collaboration on cybersecurity and privacy protection guided by a 4P strategy: Public, Private, Professional, and People,” said Sean Yang.
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Panellists (from left to right): Moderator Afke Schaart, Sean Yang (Huawei), and Shen Yi (Fudan University); on the screen: Johannes Springer (5GAA), Miguel Bañon (testing organization representative), and Wang Zhiqin (CAICT)
The forum concluded with a panel discussion where the panellists discussed common standards, shared responsibilities, and a trusted ecosystem. It was agreed that without benchmarks, bias is inevitable.
A scientific, objective, and unified security assessment approach for tech products and services will support a stable and secure development of network technologies and industries worldwide.
One of the panellists noted that all responsible stakeholders should work together to ensure collaboration, mutual trust, and sharing in cyberspace. “We should strive to reduce, not increase trust deficit; strengthen, not weaken cooperation; and facilitate, not restrict sharing,” said a speaker.
Privacy protection
The attendees also brought the fact that Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of digitalisation and made us keenly aware that cybersecurity and privacy protection are cornerstones of the future digital economy.
There was broad agreement among forum attendees that in the digital era, developing vertical commercial applications and horizontal connectivity solutions requires all players to remain open and collaborative, provide components that best meet application requirements and technical and quality standards, and jointly build secure and trustworthy network infrastructure. Without cybersecurity and privacy protection, a thriving digital, intelligent world will be impossible.
MWC Shanghai 2021 runs from February 23 to February 25 in Shanghai, China. Huawei showcases its products and solutions at booths E10, E50, and E90 in Hall N1 in the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC).
