The announcement was made at the first International Cyber Security Technologies Round Table recently.
In line with Qatar National Vision 2030, the round table is part of Lockheed Martin’s growing collaboration to support the country’s national cyber security objectives.
The round table brought together a group of multi-national cyber experts from across academia and industry to support innovation and open discussions in this field of growing importance to Qatar and the greater GCC region.
The discussions also focused on the build-up of the next generation of cyber defenders. The outcome of the two-day round table will support the development of a comprehensive framework to cultivate the human-capital and educational framework necessary to solve future cyber challenges across diverse sectors of national importance.
Prof Amine Bermak, acting associate provost and ICT division co-ordinator, HBKU said: “Later this summer, we look forward to welcoming our first cohort of students to our new Master of Science in Cyber Security programme. We recognise the importance of collaborating with industry to provide our students with the skills of the future to solve some of the most pressing cyber challenges facing industry and government.The discussions that took place over the past few days will help us develop the talent pipeline in this area of critical national significance to Qatar.”
Prof Dimitrios Serpanos from the University of Patras and director of the Industrial Systems Institute said: “The University of Patras is a leading European University in engineering, including electrical and computing, with strong activities in cyber security research. The participation and support to this round table demonstrates the commitment of the faculty to address the growing cyber security challenge to academia, industry, and governments around the world. Bringing talent together with a global lens will bring the innovative approach we need to shape a more secure future.”
Tom Milton, chief executive, Lockheed Martin Qatar, said: “We are excited to support a strong foundation of preparedness for the emerging cyber threats this region will face. Today’s increasingly complex security environment requires dynamic collaboration with academia, industry, and government to execute Qatar’s national cyber priorities.”
According to him the round table was just the beginning.
"Lockheed Martin looks forward to leveraging our global technology expertise to support Qatar’s efforts to keep its networks and citizens safe from the emerging cyber challenges,” he added.