Dr Ioannis G Economou (left), Associate Dean of Texas A&M University at Qatar, and Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, President of Kahramaa, during the signing of MoU on cybersecurity at Texas A&M Engineering University yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsu
DOHA: As Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) is on road to transforming its manually-operated systems to smart technologies which assumed importance to enhance cyberseucity, the Corporation has signed a collaborative agreement with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), represented by Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center in the USA to ensure cybersecurity for its operations.
“We hope that the cooperation between Kahramaa and TEES lead to set up an umbrella organisation for the authorities concerned to cybersecurity in the country,” Kahramaa President Eng Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari told The Peninsula on the sidelines of the press conference held to announce the agreement.
He said that the agreement is being implemented in phases. “First phase is the signing of the agreement, in the second phase a study will be conducted to assess the situation of Kahramaa networks and in the third phase a schedule will be made to send Kahramaa engineers to get training about cybersecurity,” said Al Kuwari.
The agreement was signed at Texas A&M University at Qatar by Kahramaa President and Chair of the SGC-Q Steering Committee Engineer Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Texas A&M at Qatar Dr. Ioannis G. Economou,
Kahramaa President said, “This further cooperation represented in one of its important centers, namely the Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center is an excellent embodiment of an extended successful partnership between our two entities.”
He added, “Smart grid helps utilities conserve energy, reduce costs, increase reliability and transparency, and make processes more efficient. However, it increases use of IT-based electric power systems, which can increase cybersecurity vulnerabilities, which increases cybersecuritys importance.”
This new agreement expands a previous partnership between Kahramaa and TEES, to investigate smart grid technologies and challenges to implementation on the Qatar grid through the Texas A&M Smart Grid Center (SGC) and its Qatar extension (SGC-Q).
The initial study aims to give recommendations to advance efficient use of electric energy and the full transform of the electricity grid in Qatar into a smart grid, promote collaboration to investigate smart grid challenges, and deliver innovative and effective smart grid solutions.
For his part, Economou said, “For more than 100 years, TEES has engineered solutions to real-world problems, with significant input and collaboration from industry and government. Texas A&M at Qatar and its TEES extensions are proud to continue that tradition in Qatar, and this partnership with Kahramaa is just the latest example of these strong ties to industry. We are proud to collaborate with Kahramaa as it works to transform its utilities and power grid into a smart, cybersecure grid for the benefit of Qatar and its people.”
Under this collaboration agreement, TEES experts will study the current situation in Kahramaas grid and give recommendations for current and future development opportunities for the corporation to become a pioneer as a cybersecure grid.
The agreement will also establish an industry consortium, to study current and future development opportunities for the State of Qatar where needed, and a mechanism to develop and manage projects related to cybersecurity.
This agreement will also enable sharing expertise and research studies in several areas, including cybersecurity assessment and vulnerability, malware infrastructure analysis and related research areas, such as critical infrastructure protection.
Moreover, through this collaborative agreement, TEES will offer certificate programs and training opportunities for Kahramaa nominees to acquire cybersecurity knowledge and skills for their careers.
