(DNE Photo)
ISACA, previously knows as the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, announced the formation of ISACA Cairo Chapter after lots of preparations, said Waleed Hammad, ISACA Cairo Chapter President.
ISACA is a US-based non-profit association with global membership, offering IT and information system services. The COBIT framework and the CISA, CISM, CGEIT and CRISC certifications are ISACA brands respected and used by these professionals for the benefit of their enterprises.
ISACA Cairo Chapter held their first meeting on Saturday to explain to bankers, business professionals and potential members their activities and services, and discussing methods of joining the chapter.
The Cairo Chapter will offer IT services to banks, companies, healthcare entities, ministries and the Central Bank of Egypt.
Hammad said that the ISACA is offering services that cover the following domains: audit, information security, risk management and IS governance.
The Cairo Chapter was granted the chapter license in August 2014.
Since the chapter announcement, the Cairo Chapter board worked on finalizing their legal presence within the Egyptian market, as a non-governmental organization (NGO), under which the ISACA Cairo Chapter falls, Hammad added.
ISACA, which offers certificates to IT professionals, has 230 chapters around the world, with the last one before Cairo established in 2013 in Tunisia, according to Hammad.
Currently, ISACA Cairo Chapter has 182 members, Hammad said, adding that they are planning to exceed 1000 members by 2017.
Presenting the chapter’s 2015 plan, Hammad said that each quarter of the year will focus on a specific domain of the four domains covered by ISACA.
Vice president of ISACA Cairo Chapter board Osman Azab, who is also deputy general manager of internal audit and inspection at Arab African International Bank (AAIB) further noted that the chapter’s 2015 networking activities focus will occur through monthly breakfast meetings, team building activities and Ramadan gathering.
The professional activities of the ISACA’s Cairo Chapter includes offering: webinars for members and non-members; study groups; establishing mini projects; and cooperation with universities to keep students aware of the IT and information security industry.
The chapter will also include sub-committees that will execute chapter’s activities, such as education, community relations and identity management committees.
On the reasons that encouraged the launch of the ISACA Cairo Chapter, Azab said that interested parties in IT and information security have long heard about ISACA. Many of them have been awarded certificates from it, adding “that’s why we were keen on having a chapter in Egypt”.
Azab revealed that chapter is in continuous cooperation with Children Caner Hospital (57357 hospital) in community services related to audit, security and governance, adding that ISACA Cairo will also discuss ideas with the government such as Ministries of Petroleum, and Social Solidarity.
