The Kingdom of Bahrain, an Arabian constitutional monarchy in the Persian Gulf, is one of the few countries in the Middle East that has diversified its economy by using the financial resources generated from its massive oil reserves. Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza, the nation’s Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs, recently noted that blockchain technology is a “true mark of progress.”
Inauguration Of Cybersecurity Conference
Mirza recommended that local companies and organizations, which mainly include large financial institutions and tourism-related businesses, explore the various use cases for blockchain. The minister also said that distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be considered one of the most useful, or important, advancements in the last decade.
In order to take advantage of the potential benefits of DLT, Mirza called on local citizens, particularly Bahrain’s younger citizens, to start learning about how it is currently being applied to streamline business processes in various industries. Mirza’s positive comments about blockchain technology came during the inauguration of the SmartSec Cybersecurity and Blockchain Conference held on September 4th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bahrain.
“True Mark Of Progress”
The main topics of discussion during the conference included cybersecurity issues and the “threats and opportunities from the development of blockchain technology”, according to local news outlet, the Times of Bahrain. Mirza remarked:
“Technologies such as blockchain take us a huge step forward in finding a secure way to facilitate transactions. Blockchain’s ability to protect user’s data is a true mark of progress, especially due to the fact that it can be applied in different companies from different industries including cyber security.”
He continued:
“This is the kind of initiative that we would like Bahraini companies to have so that innovation can arise amongst the great minds of this community. Cyber-security is an essential part of our lives because most of our daily lives involve the use of technology in one way or another.”
Mirza also stressed that the increasing threats of cyberattacks must be taken seriously as they’ve adversely affected over 60 countries, including Bahrain, in the past year. The minister further noted that the country’s central bank had recently warned local financial institutions regarding the “orchestrated attacks planned at ATMs around the world.”
Mirza added that information security is “very important” because most people use the internet for work and to connect, or interact, with friends or colleagues.
