Ghanaian cyber security expert to address UN meeting

A Ghanaian cyber security expert, Mr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, would join other global cyber security professionals in a meeting to discuss strategies and measures to regulate and enhance e-commerce in the world.

Mr. Antwi-Boasiako, who is also the Founder and Principal Consultant of e-Crime Bureau, would deliver a presentation on the challenges faced by countries in West Africa in general and Ghana in particular in respect of legal issues related to e-commerce and the options available to strengthen national and international legal responses to cybercrime.

The expert meeting, which is being organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), would take place from March 25 to 27, 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

It would serve as a platform that would enable countries to review their legal frameworks and share experiences to impact the development of global trade.

UNCTAD has supported more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean over the years in preparing and adopting cyber laws and regulations and through capacity-building exercises.

In a statement issued to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Accra, at the weekend, stated that the meeting was being organized in view of the fact that online transactions were of growing importance to governments, enterprises and consumers in most parts of the world.

It stated that whilst greater reliance on electronic commerce (e-commerce) created significant opportunities, a lack of security and trust remained a critical barrier to such transactions.

It said online fraud and data breaches were growing concerns for both consumers and enterprises, requiring adequate legal and regulatory responses at national and international levels.

The statement said developing countries had not been proactive in enacting relevant cyber laws and cross-border e-commerce was hampered by variations between existing laws and regulations in different countries.

It emphasised that the meeting would review challenges facing policy and lawmakers, as well as the private sector at all levels of development.

It would also offer an opportunity for regional organizations, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System and the Latin American Integration Association to explore scopes for collaboration with regard to the harmonization of legal frameworks relative to e-commerce.

It noted that the meeting would benefit Ghana and ECOWAS member states in domestic and cross-border e-commerce as findings of the first ever global mapping of laws in the areas of e-transactions, consumer protection, data protection and cybercrime, which would be deliberated upon, would serve as a framework that would directly shape laws and policies to strengthen Ghana’s position in international trade.