Zayed University will host for the first time in the ME region the "2^nd International ICST Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime", which is sponsored by the Ministry of Interior, Ernst & Young and organized by ZU's College of Information Technology and the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering (ICST) in Belgium. The ICST Conference which will take place on the 4^th to 6^th of October in Le Meridian Abu Dhabi, brings together practitioners and researchers from diverse fields providing opportunities for business and intellectual engagement among attendees from different countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Norway, UAE, Ireland, Hungary, Canada, and Italy.

The announcement was made during a press conference held yesterday at ZU's Abu Dhabi campus, in the presence of Dr. Sulaiman AlJassim Vice President of Zayed University, Major Omar Al Tunaiji Head of Cyber Crime Branch at Abu Dhabi Police, Mr. Bob Chandler, Head of Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services at Ernst & Young and Dr.Ibrahim Bagilli, Assistant Professor and Director of the Advanced Cyber Forensics Research ,Chair of the 2^nd ICST conference.

Dr. Sulaiman Al Jassim Vice President of Zayed University commended the vision of H.H Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, UAE Minister of Interior, and His keenness on the Ministry's participation in such conferences and global events, particularly with regard to the knowledge of digital forensics, which is an area of interest especially in the UAE.

Commenting on the importance of the Conference, Dr. Al Jassim added: "The Conference brings together scholars and experts, academics and practitioners from around the world and provides them with the opportunity to exchange information and experiences and discuss the various developments that have taken place in the field of digital forensics, which has become an important factor in the area of network security.

"H.H Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, UAE Minister of Interior has always been committed to making sure that the Ministry keeps up with the pace of various technological developments in the fight against cyber crimes, and our knowledge of digital forensics ", said Major Omar Al Tunaiji Head of Cyber Crime Branch at the Abu Dhabi Police.

Bob Chandler, Head of Fraud and Investigation at Ernst & Young said: "Given the increasing use of technology in business, those of us at Ernst & Young that work in the Investigations and Disputes area have found that this is reflected in the nature of the assignments that we undertake. 

Emphasizing the importance of the ICST Conference, Dr.Ibrahim Bagilli, Assistant Professor and Director of the Advanced Cyber Forensics Research, Chair of the 2^nd ICST conference explained: "Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime Investigation are relatively new fields in the Middle East region and especially in Arab Countries some of which haven't focused on these two vital fields and enhanced their applications in them except recently.