The GovWare Conference and Exhibition (GovWare), part of the Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW), returns to Singapore as a full physical event this year, since it was last held in 2019. With the disruption wrought by Covid-19 over the past three years impacting lives and livelihoods, it is apt that the theme for GovWare 2022 is “Fostering a Safe and Sustainable Cyberspace Amidst Disruption”.
A corollary of Covid-19 is that the world today is more digitalised than before – with people and businesses having a greater reliance on technology for work, learning, recreation and commerce when traditional norms, practices and business models were disrupted. As we go online, this increased digital interconnectedness - while helping us to ride through the pandemic - has also broadened our exposure to greater cybersecurity risks. Supply chain attacks, ransomware and cyber attacks on national critical infrastructure have increased in frequency and sophistication during the pandemic. Cyber attacks that are motivated by a sense of nationalism have also added another geopolitical dimension to the cyber threats and risks confronting our world today.
To reap the benefits of digitalisation, every one of us needs to do our part to bring about a safer and more sustainable cyberspace. Beyond just understanding cyber risks and adopting good cyber practices at individual and institutional levels to safeguard against these risks, governments, organisations and people will need to sustain the conversations on cybersecurity and continually strengthen partnerships for a safer rules-based and multi-lateral cyberspace.
GovWare unites the region’s most robust cyber community – symbolising the next evolution of cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions to enhance our collective defences into a unified approach, address real-world cyber threats and identify salient opportunities. Every discussion, every insight and every innovation exchanged and showcased during GovWare 2022 strives to push the boundaries of our cybersecurity landscape.
Image Engine is proud to present GovWare as an industry platform and part of SICW, and to partner with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) as the event partner for SICW once more. This continued partnership with the CSA and our community partners underscores GovWare’s efforts to strengthen the community via critical information sharing and capacity-building collaborations with key stakeholders.
I am heartened by the support of CSA, our sponsors, partners and the cybersecurity community for GovWare 2022. A safe and sustainable cyberspace must be a sovereign right for the citizens of this world so that we – and our future generations – can benefit from technology and digitalisation.
Ian Monteiro
Executive Director
Image Engine