Uganda to host Banking, ICT summit

By Julius Businge

Uganda will on Apr. 25 host the third annual East Africa Banking and ICT Security Summit in Kampala under the theme; ‘Strengthening Banking and ICT  development in Africa’.

Available information indicates that the one day summit organised by Cyber Security Africa, co-hosted by National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) and ICT Association of Uganda will explore solutions to banking fraud, IT security threats, risk and regulatory issues affecting financial institutions, government agencies and other organisations.

Sammy Kioko, the manager for Cyber Security Africa Alliance said participants from different parts of the world at the summit will identify the technical, environmental and business risks that lead to service vulnerability which at times weaken consumer confidence that ultimately erode brand value and cause revenue declines.

The summit will further discuss ideas on articulating and implementing appropriate information risk management strategies, specifically looking at key security issues on core banking systems, software, mobile banking, cards and payments, fraud and risk management solutions.

The Executive Director at NITA-U, James Saaka, says the Authority has developed a National Information Security Framework which fulfills Government of Uganda’s pledge to protect citizens, national resources and systems against computer-enabled espionage, fraud, sabotage and vandalism.

“The timing of the workshop is perfect for us to validate this framework with one of the most controlled sectors to ensure that it serves to promote and ingrain a culture of cyber security in our institutions,” Saaka said.

Experts say security systems risks have been identified as the biggest challenge for many organisations in the region. With such meetings, experts say, such challenges can easily be overcome.

The conference is sponsored by EliteVad Dubai, Fintech Group, IBM, Sab among others.