What does the events of that Friday, which left millions of people holding their breath, tell us?

There are many possible answers to such a question, but Tristan Harris, technology ethics expert and Executive Director of the Center for Humane Technology in the United States, captured the essence of the matter when he said: we must acknowledge that the digital world has become the real world itself, and we must engage with it on that basis.

From the morning of that day, media outlets were flooded with a sweeping panorama of alarming news: pilots lost their bearings mid-flight and found themselves staring at blank screens amid panicking passengers who had caught wind of unsettling reports; physicians were unable to access patient records and were forced to resort to pen and paper to manage the cases before them; and courts descended into confusion as judges were unable to review case files obscured by the blue screen. The anxiety of that day was so overwhelming that it eclipsed even the most pressing geopolitical events unfolding around the world.

Yet one question naturally comes to mind: was this the first time the world had found itself confronted with that kind of threat, enough to warrant such shock and disbelief?

Certainly not. In 2016, a sudden failure in the systems of Dyn resulted in hundreds of thousands of websites going offline, including major platforms operating in digital commerce. In 2020, a malfunction in Facebook's authentication infrastructure paralysed millions of accounts. That same year, millions of Google users were unable to access their calendars due to a technical disruption affecting the company's systems. The following year, in 2021, a technical failure resulted in the loss of data for millions of smartphone users across the United States. Before that year had even drawn to a close, Amazon's data centres experienced a widespread outage that inflicted significant losses on numerous major companies, including Netflix, Disney, and others.

Were one to document every comparable incident, the space required would be many times greater. However, the purpose of citing these historical episodes is to arrive at an answer to a single question: has the world drawn sufficient lessons from these events?

"Blue Screen Friday" confronted us with two undeniable realities: the first is the profound extent of our dependence on technology, and the second is that this dependence will, at some point, appear dangerously fragile unless the world is adequately prepared.

As for how to prepare, the starting point must be in drawing meaningful lessons from what transpired. Among these lessons, for instance, is the importance of maintaining multiple options when selecting service providers, and the necessity of continuously working to ensure a robust digital environment capable of withstanding risks and enabling the swift restoration of services. Digital contingency plans must also be regularly reviewed and updated to remain aligned with the nature of evolving threats.

There is another point worth highlighting: the repercussions of the global technical failure underscored the importance of adopting a shared global approach to crises stemming from digital emergencies. The world today is more interconnected than any of us can fully comprehend, and no single country or institution, regardless of its size, can face this type of emergency in isolation.

Naturally, this shared global approach does not negate the need for national digital emergency plans, nor for equivalent plans at the institutional level, whether large or small. However, such plans must be aligned, in one way or another, with globally agreed-upon frameworks and policies for circumstances of this nature.

There are many priorities that must be addressed in preparing for what is inevitably to come, and acting as though nothing has happened is certainly not among them.

Finally, it is fortunate that the impact of "Blue Screen Friday" was not comprehensive. It affected a limited segment of institutions, albeit across most countries of the world. The UAE was naturally not immune to its repercussions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was transparent in its statement, acknowledging that the global technical disruption had affected some of its electronic systems, and advising users to refrain from conducting any transactions until the issue was resolved. Similarly, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority took the initiative to communicate with the public and alert them regarding the software responsible for the disruption. May God protect our nation from all harm.