Abu Dhabi, 21 May 2024: Under the patronage of Lt. General His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, day one of the International Exhibition for National Security & Resilience (ISNR) has concluded at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi.
Organized by the ADNEC Group in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, and in strategic partnership with Abu Dhabi Police and academic partnership with Rabdan Academy, this year’s exhibition is held under the theme of “Accelerating Transformation in National Security Ecosystem”. Visitors on day one of ISNR Abu Dhabi 2024 witnessed innovative technologies and insightful discussions at eight features in addition to the Take Down live demonstration in the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony consisted of a live presentation named “The Take Down”, presented by the Ministry of Interior. This performance included a detailed security scenario, demonstrating the UAE’s efforts, under its wise leadership, to enhance security, community prevention, and civil protection. The presentation, carried out by specialised police teams and sectors from the Ministry of Interior, the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ, and partners from relevant authorities, depicted an international coordination process to seize a drug gang. The scenario highlighted the expertise, capabilities, and professionalism of the UAE police, showcasing their adoption of the highest-level technologies and practices.
Additionally, the Ministry of Interior held a graduation ceremony of 54 members from the Ministry of Interior and the Abu Dhabi Police GHQ. These graduates consist of members of police stations, social support centres, and investigation departments, who have successfully completed a specialised program in child protection, qualifying them as specialists in this important field.
With diverse themes and sessions centred around innovation in the realms of national security and policing, the ISNR Conference offered a new forum for 650 decision makers to advance security innovation pathways. The inaugural ISNR conference, organized by the Ministry of Interior and Rabdan Academy, in cooperation with the ADNEC Group, had a productive first day within which participants discussed security innovation pathways to align with global transformations, refine national security concepts, and update security strategies and policies. As a prestigious platform for ideas and debate, the event hosted elite decision-makers and specialists to exchange their expertise and perspectives. The day’s sessions covered a wide range of high-level topics, including strategic alliances in global stability, national security trends, the adoption of future strategies, evidence-based policing and police strategies, and measures to ensure sustainability in national security.
Of the eight features at ISNR 2024, six were new including the Tech Talks live podcast broadcast directly from the exhibition floor at ISNR featuring Darren Johnson, CEO of Capital Events who discussed the future of the business tourism industry. This unique podcast event will feature on-site episodes to actively engage industry leaders on social media platforms to discuss the latest advancements and trends in Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence and the homeland security ecosystem. Numerous experts within the sector, including representative of industry leaders such as Dell, HP, and Presight, will participate in this feature over the three-day exhibition.
Organised by Capital Events, the new Emerging Enterprises feature enabled debuting enterprises to make a distinct mark on the exhibition floor by highlighting new innovations and products that cover many national security sectors.
The ISNR Startup Zone, powered by the Khalifa Fund and hosted by Capital Events, featured 15 startups demonstrating unique and imaginative new technology applications for visitors. With the featured startups covering a wide range of critical national security priorities, the new Zone showcased innovative designs for visitors while also ensuring exposure of creative new ideas to industry leaders and private and public entities.
With the rise of new threats within cyber space and through AI, the first Cyber Security Council at ISNR demonstrated Abu Dhabi’s reputation as the safest city in the world through the introduction of the Cyber Security Hub. Supported by Presight, the renowned cyber arm of G42 company, the new hub was run by Capital Events with an emphasis on education and successful case studies to reflect the growing importance of cyber security awareness.
The Interpol Policing Hub gathered expertise and resources of different police forces from around the world. The Hub served as a focal point for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and innovation in global law enforcement. Attendees were able to engage in sessions, interactive demonstrations, and networking opportunities with leading law enforcement professionals from around the world.
ISNR Talks has returned to the edition, explore cutting-edge topics through a dynamic agenda of panel discussions and Q&A sessions to provide unique insights and perspectives. On day one of ISNR Talks, the AI Forum began with a keynote speech by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, Chairman of the UAE Government’s Cybersecurity Council, who discussed the UAE’s efforts in the field of cybersecurity and aligning to the UAE’s vision to become a leading country in adopting artificial intelligence by 2071. The Cybersecurity Council uses artificial intelligence to identify cybersecurity attacks that threaten the country, with ISNR a leading platform for communicating and transforming ideas into innovative products.
A panel discussion entitled “The Future of Threat Management – artificial Intelligence and Smart Technologies”, featured Martin Yates, Senior Advisor for Government Technology at Presight and Hadi Anwar, Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Core42 and moderated by Mohamed Akkad, Vice President of Technology at Positive Infosec. Dr. Ibrahim Al Alkim Al Zaabi, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence Expert at the Government of Abu Dhabi, gave a presentation entitled “Commitment to the Ethics of Safe Use of Artificial Intelligence”, which focussed on the rise of artificial intelligence in our society. Dr. Ibrahim Al Alkim Al Zaabi stressed the importance of making the right ethical decisions when taking into account data privacy, and that many important questions still need to be answered regarding AI.
The return of the Delegation and Networking area at ISNR Abu Dhabi 2024 united the foremost minds in homeland security, cybersecurity, policing, and law enforcement. This dedicated area featured a worldwide network of experts, encompassing government officials, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss collaborations that enhance security measures globally.
ISNR 2024 will continue until 23 May, featuring a wide range of technologies in the fields of digital forensics, combating malware and spam and viruses, human factors, governance, compliance, business continuation, response to accidents, identity and access management, application security, Internet of Things (IoT) security and cloud security.
