Source: Soroush Karimaei via Alamy Stock Photo

The World Bank has appointed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as chair of its Cloud Computing Working Group.

A statement by the government of Dubai said the appointment was made in recognition of the UAE's cybersecurity support for government entities and private sector companies that switched to cloud computing systems.

The Middle East public cloud market is expected to reach a valuation of $9.9 billion by 2027, although attacks on connected devices and cloud-related threats are the top cyber threats for companies in the Middle East, according to a regional survey conducted for PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Digital Trust Insights 2024" report.

Dr. Bushra AlBlooshi, senior consultant research and innovation at Dubai Electronic Security Center, said: "The UAE's appointment to chair the World Bank's Cloud Computing Working Group demonstrates the leading position that the country has come to occupy in the field of future technologies in general, and cloud computing in particular."

The Cloud Computing Working Group consists of 27 nations, international groups, and companies. Its next step is to deliver guidance on data sovereignty.