High Tech Collaboration
Aramco teams up with Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
Collaboration expected to enhance cybersecurity education, awareness, and Research and Development.
Under the patronage of HE the Minister of Education Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Shaikh, Aramco and the Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University have jointly signed an agreement to establish the “Aramco Cybersecurity Chair at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University.” The agreement was signed by Aramco’s senior vice president of Technical Services, Ahmad A. Al Sa’adi, and HE Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish, president of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University.
The objective of establishing the Aramco Cybersecurity Chair is to strengthen the collaboration with the university in this important field and to enhance the level of cybersecurity education, awareness, and research and development. In addition, the Chair will support academic research and development in cybersecurity covering new domains such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, operational technology security, security analytics, and others.
Al Sa’adi stressed the importance of such collaborations, noting: “Aramco is committed in the development of national competencies and capabilities that can cope with the current challenges in cybersecurity by collaborating with leading academic institutes. This agreement is the first step toward a long collaboration with the university to enhance cybersecurity education, research and development.”
The signing ceremony was attended by Yousef A. Al Ulyan, Aramco vice president of Information Technology; Basim A. Al Ruwaii, manager of Aramco’s Information Protection Department, and Khalid S. Al-Harbi, chief information security officer.
Al-Ulyan highlighted the continuous effort by Aramco to build collaborations with academic institutions in the Kingdom to strengthen cybersecurity education and awareness.
“Aramco has a long and rich history in similar collaborations with national academic institutes. Establishing this Chair is one example of how the company is reaching out to national universities to strengthen local capabilities in cybersecurity,” Al Ulyan added.