India to host Global Conference on Cyber Space on Nov 23-24

Moneycontrol News

India is all set to host the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS), one of the world’s largest conferences in the field of cyberspace and related issues, on November 23 and 24 at Aerocity in New Delhi.

The conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj will deliver the keynote address in the valedictory function.

The theme for this year’s GCCS is “Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development”, which will see international leaders, policymakers, industry experts, think tanks and cyber experts gather to deliberate on issues and challenges for optimally use of cyber space.

The first ever GCCS was held in London in 2011, the second GCCS in 2012 in Budapest with a focus on relationship between internet rights and internet security, the third edition of GCCS was held in 2013 in Seoul with commitment to Open and Secure Cyberspace. The fourth version GCCS 2015 was held on April 16-17, 2015 in The Hague, Netherlands which saw participation from 97 countries.

The overall goals of GCCS 2017 are to promote the importance of inclusiveness and human rights in global cyber policy, to defend the status quo of an open, interoperable and unregimented cyberspace, to create political commitment for capacity building initiatives to address the digital divide and assist countries, and to develop security solutions in a balanced fashion that duly acknowledge the importance of the private sector and technical community.

“The GCCS 2017 is certainly in accord with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to transform India into a digitally empowered country,” said Minister for Electronics & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad. “GCCS 2017 will give the world’s cyber community a unique opportunity to learn from global experience and expert insight, and discover more about the technology led transformation being engineered in India. As India is poised to become a USD 1 trillion digital economy and lead the digital revolution in the world, it is imperative to formulate and put across a robust cyber space,” he added.

The ministry said in a statement that 33 ministers from various nations dealing with the subject matter of cyber space (ICT or similar ministries in some countries and Foreign Ministry in others) have already confirmed. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka also is expected to come for the inaugural ceremony.