Opening the first “Major Event Safety and Security Conference”, Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday launched the “Stadia Knowledge Management System” under Stadia Project established by Interpol in 2012 in partnership with Qatar.
The Project Stadia was designed to create a Centre of Excellence to help Interpol member countries plan and undertake policing and security preparations for major international events.
Minister of State for Defence Affairs H E Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, Minister of Interior of Oman, Sayyid Hamoud bin Faisal bin Said Al Busaidi; Minister of Interior of Pakistan, Chaudhry Ahsan Iqbal; Minister of Interior of Somalia, Muhammed Aboobacker Oslo Daali; Minister of Interior of Belarus, Igor Shunevich; Under-secretary of the Kuwait Ministry of Interior, Mahmoud Muhammed Al Dosari; Deputy Minister of Interior of Azerbaijan, Zalov Oruj; and a number of ambassadors from sisterly and friendly countries and many ministers and high ranking officials attended the opening ceremony.
The Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee & Delivery and Legacy, Hassan Al Thawadi said that the relationship between the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy and Interpol was formally established at the 81st Interpol General Assembly in Rome almost five years ago which demonstrated our commitment to securing the Middle East’s first World Cup. “We will host a World Cup in 2022 that is robustly safe and secure, based on shared best practice between national and international partners through organization and administration, data sharing, knowledge exchange and effective law enforcement.”
Delivering his keynote address in the opening session, Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) extended his thanks and appreciation for organizing this first conference of international police cooperation at this level of excellence.
“We know that organized crime, cybercrime and terrorism have been targeting a large generation of innocent civilians and caused big damage in the public and private resources and for the great events that led to the martyrdom of the innocent”, he said.
The “Stadia Knowledge Management System” is a state-of-the-art, web-based knowledge management system, which is a comprehensive knowledge repository of good practices in all aspects of major event security and an online collaborative platform where experts in the field can share, discuss, analyze and publish information on the ever evolving aspects of major international event safety and security.
It is the result of the learning accrued in last five years through Project Stadia from member countries that have successfully hosted major international events.
By bringing together the experiences, best practices, success stories and lessons learnt from member countries that have hosted major international events, Project Stadia’s Knowledge Management System is part of its legacy to help future hosts strengthen their own preparations with the latest knowledge and expertise.
Stock said that the law enforcement sector was complex as great risks posed by terrorism. “Cyber experts should also make efforts beyond borders and sectors”, Jürgen Stock said.
He said that Interpol has realized that there is a dimension to the border and the police should have cross-border relations for this purpose. “Readiness of a platform is highly needed at our disposal to gather law enforcement experts from all over the world.”
“Qatar is preparing to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and securing such criminal risk is a top priority for the host country. A common goal has been set up, the project Stadia, to help member states provide security,” he said, adding that Interpol launched this project in 2012 in partnership with the State of Qatar to assist law enforcement agencies in the world.
Senior Manager of Project Stadia at Interpol, Falah Al Dosari, stressed that the State of Qatar aims to organize a unique World Cup edition while leaving a lasting legacy for law enforcement agencies all over the world.
Al Dosari said that Interpol is working with the State of Qatar to provide the best policing practices and arrangements for the 2022 Qatar World Cup so as to leave a lasting legacy for world law enforcement agencies.
Al Dosari stressed the close cooperation between the State of Qatar and Interpol, highlighting the State of Qatar’s hosting of the Interpol general assembly in 2010, indicating the importance of this cooperation in the framework of Qatar’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
Al Dosari noted that this partnership with the State of Qatar aims to develop capabilities in order to support Interpol’s 192 member states in hosting major sports events, adding that this partnership resulted in the establishment of Project Stadia in 2012.
Representatives of several 192 Interpol member countries and international organisations, high ranking officials and participants from 65 countries will attend the two days major event security conference.
Director of National Security and Resilience Studies at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI), London, Andrew Glazzard also spoke on the subject “Current security threat environment in the UK, the need for a step-change in approach when one considers preparation for major events”.
In the first session of first day of conference, Filipo Dispenza, Director General of Public Security, Prefect of the Police of Cagliari, Italy, presented a paper titled “European perspective on the major event security threat environment”.
Dr Jolene Jerard, Deputy Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, spoke on the subject “Current and emerging IS-centric threat landscape and its impact on major events”.
From the Qatari side, Major General Hazza bin Mubarak Al- Hajrey, Assistant Secretary General of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf for Security Affairs addressed the audience on the topic “GCC perspective on current security threat environment”, and Brigadier Ibrahim Al Mohannadi, senior member of the National Counter Terrorism Committee and Head of Consultancy Unit, Security Committee for 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar presented a paper titled “Focus on preparations Qatar is making to understand, build out and mitigate threat” in the same session.
The Peninsula Qatar
November 8
