Participating in the Final Session of the Establishment of a National CERT in the Philippines

Dr. In-Soo Kang says, "Korea's Consultation Efforts Based on It's Own Experience Have Now Borne Fruit."

On the Sidelines, UNESCAP International Conference on Cooperation Between E-governments to Bridge Digital Divide Was Held

The Final Session of the "Strategy for the Establishment of a National Computer Emergency Response Team(CERT) in the Philippines" was held on Nov. 22 at the conference room of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology(CICT) in Manila, Philippines.

This session was attended by about 50 experts from industry, government and academia in the country, presenting strategies for the establishment of a national CERT derived from the consultative group's activities, and discussing the direction of the CERT. In particular, Korea was highly recognized for implementing consultation based on it's own experience and expertise to help guide the Philippines toward the right direction for construction.

Among those who participated in the meeting include officials concerned in the Philippines - Mr. Ramon P. Sales, Minister of CICT and Virtus V. Gil, Deputy National Security Adviser - and members of the consultative group representing Korea - In-Soo Kang, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), Tae-Eun Kim, Chief Research Engineer, Hee-Jo Lee, Professor at the Korea University, Min-Soo Kim, Professor at the Mokpo University, Jin-Won Seo, Senior Researcher at the Korea Information Security Agency(KISA) and Yong-Kyun Lee, Head of Igloo Security.

KISDI has carried out a "Special Cooperation Project for Bridging the Digital Divide in East Asia" since 2002, and the consultation on "the establishment of a Philippine-CERT" is provided as part of IT-related projects.

※ The Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) is a regional cooperative body consisting of ten countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

KISDI formed consultative group of experts from the KISA, academia and businesses, introducing the country's expertise in the construction of the Korean Computer Emergency Response Team(KrCERT) in coordination with the CICT, and providing advice to the Philippines on the direction of construction of it's national CERT and strategic road map.

These activities proceeded as follows. The consultative group conducted a field study in the Philippines in August and educational seminars were held inviting experts from related fields in the country in September. Then, based on the results, strategic roadmap for the development of national CERT was drawn up, which was presented in the session.

In addition to that, the "UNESCAP International Conference on Cooperation Between E-governments to Bridge the Digital Divide" was held in Manila, Philippines from Nov. 27 through to 29 hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific(UNESCAP). The event was designed to narrow the digital divide among ASEAN member countries through information sharing regarding the construction of e-government as part of "Special Cooperation Projects for Bridging the Digital Divide in East Asia" implemented by the KISDI.

The conference began with an opening address by Dr. Ja-Kyung Yoo and Senior Research Fellow In-Soo Kang, and a welcoming speech by Minister of CICT Ramon P. Sales followed by Yonsei University's Sam-Yeol Lee's keynote speech entitled "Current Status of Regional E-government and It's strategies", and presentations including "Current Status of E-governments in ASEAN" made by ASEAN Secretariat and national status report regarding G4C, e-Customs, and e-Procurement by ASEAN member countries with various discussions taking place for the regional cooperation between e-governments.

Also, on 29th, the last day of the conference, Dr. In-Soo Kang made presentations on actual results of the consultation project regarding IT-related policies undertaken by the KISDI and current status of IT consultations provided to beneficiaries including Cambodia and the Philippines, through which the meeting examined the accomplishment of the IT-related consultation activities that had been carried out so far. In the event, ASEAN countries said that IT consultation project was helpful in their IT development, expressing hope for more consultations in various fields in the future.