UAE Cyber Security Council Unleashes Wave of Strategic Accords at GISEC Global 2026 Spanning Quantum Defense, Autonomous Mobility, and CISO Leadership
DUBAI — The Cyber Security Council of the United Arab Emirates has concluded an extensive round of bilateral partnerships and strategic accords on the sidelines of GISEC Global 2026 in Dubai, establishing sweeping public private defense pacts that span autonomous transport security, quantum resistant cryptography, executive talent development, and sovereign artificial intelligence operations.
Leading the human capital and executive capability initiatives, the Council partnered with professional services firm PwC Middle East to launch the CISO100 Leadership Capability Development Programme, a specialized curriculum structured to upskill current and aspiring Chief Information Security Officers to secure federal networks and private sector enterprises against sophisticated hybrid threats. Parallel to executive leadership, the Council inked a Memorandum of Understanding with digital payments leader Visa, establishing a cyber intelligence exchange framework that will see government personnel complete accredited training through the Visa Payments Cybersecurity curriculum at Visa University.
In the domain of critical infrastructure and autonomous operational technology, the Council joined forces with Abu Dhabi’s Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) and Uber to construct a unified cybersecurity safety baseline for autonomous mobility. The initiative leverages operational data from Uber’s commercial autonomous vehicle fleet operating in Abu Dhabi since 2024 to train national talent and protect autonomous vehicular control networks against signal spoofing and malicious remote intrusion.
To preempt next generation computational risks, the Council formed an alliance with iBlades.ai centered on crypto agility, post quantum cryptography evaluation, and applied domestic research to fortify sovereign networks against emerging quantum decryption vectors. In tandem, deep tech enterprise TENEX partnered with the Council to establish an advanced Centre of Excellence in Abu Dhabi dedicated to agentic, human led artificial intelligence security operations.
The Council reinforced foundational operational resilience through a partnership with Veeam Software, establishing a dedicated Centre of Excellence framework to deliver enterprise recovery readiness protocols and trusted data management across cloud architectures. On the enterprise front, a bilateral cooperation accord with Majid Al Futtaim Holding will unify real time threat detection pipelines and public awareness campaigns across retail and commercial real estate hubs. Demonstrating the nexus between institutional investment and digital protection, Council leadership engaged in high level strategic discussions with Nagash Tahir, Managing Director of RealAsset at PGIM, to align private capital deployments with sovereign digital resilience.
