H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, has told the SAMENA Leaders’ Summit 2026 that digital infrastructure questions have moved beyond the technical domain and into the territory of national sovereignty, stability and trust.
Addressing delegates on the occasion of SAMENA’s twentieth anniversary, Sheikh Nahyan argued that no nation can achieve complete digital sovereignty in an interconnected world but that interconnectedness itself demands clearly defined principles and responsibilities. He said digital infrastructure must be built on four pillars: resilience, trust, partnership and wisdom, with the last defined as ensuring technology serves people, protects dignity and preserves peace.
His remarks carried particular weight given the regional context. “In times of conflict, digital infrastructure itself becomes a battlespace,” he said, “targeted to create disruption, fear, and economic instability. Resilience is not optional. It is foundational.”
The address came as UAE authorities continue to manage active drone and missile threats to the country’s digital infrastructure, including last week’s confirmed strike on Thuraya Telecommunications’ administrative building in Sharjah and earlier Iranian drone attacks on Amazon Web Services data centre facilities in the UAE and Bahrain.
