Vulnerability in cyberspace that now transcends national boundaries, was a major topic of the 3rd Annual Seoul Conference on Cyberspace  whose theme was “Global Prosperity Through An Open Internet”.  The conference was organized and took place in the South Korean capital on October 17 and 18, 2013.

The Qatar delegation led by Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, Minister of Information and Communications Technology, included members from the Ministry of Information & Communications Technology, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The conference was attended by more than 1,000 delegates representing more than 90 countries including representatives from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), OECD, and other global information and communications enterprises.

Discussions, presentations, and sharing information and best practices focused on six key issues:  economic growth and development driven by the Internet; socio-cultural benefits of the Internet; cyber security; international security and ways to prevent cyber terrorism; cybercrime; and capacity building in terms of dealing with cyber attacks. Each of these themes was expanded during intense panel discussions.

A highlight of the conference was a document presented by South Korea entitled “Seoul Principals and Guidelines for Open and Secure Cyberspace.” The conference organizers plan to publish and circulate this document,, that summarizes the conference discussions and agreed upon principles and best practices to create an open and secure cyber space, to participating nations to help build upon the resolutions from the earlier Budapest Convention 2012.

This year’s conference included more developing countries than in previous two years and enhancing awareness of cyber issues to build capacity of these countries was a major theme of the conference.  Other conference highlights included sharing practical results on best practices in cybercrime, cyber security and capacity building were highlights of the conference.

In addition to Dr. Hessa Al-Jaber, other Qatar delegation members included Khalid Al Hashmi, Fahad Saeed J.S. Abdulla and Aminah Hamam from the Ministry of Information & Communications Technology; Major Ali Hassan Al-Kubaisi and Lieutenant Ahmed Hussein Al-Obaidli from the Ministry of Interior; and Dr. Saif Mohammed Al-Kuwari from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.