Dubai: The Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) has signed an agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for digital technologies, to strengthen global digital security and help communities prepare for major disruptions.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2026 (PP-26), taking place at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center until November 27.
It aims to develop realistic scenarios involving large-scale disruptions to digital systems, often described as digital pandemics, and create practical solutions to help governments, organisations and communities prepare for such emergencies and reduce their impact.
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Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, Chief Executive of DESC, and Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the ITU, signed the agreement.
The signing was attended by Eng. Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, Director General of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), UAE Ambassador to Qatar Saeed Abdullah Al Qamzi, and ITU Deputy Secretary-General Tomas Lamanauskas.
Focus on digital threats and preparedness
Under the agreement, DESC and ITU will work together in two main areas.
The first involves studying emerging threats to critical digital infrastructure, building on a joint ITU-UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction report titled When Digital Systems Fail.
