An overview of e-government strategy in Lebanon

Abstract EN

Lebanon has undertaken a series of initiatives over the past decade or so to develop a vision, policy and strategy to make use of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) in pursuing reform both in Government and nationally.

These initiatives were initiated by the establishment of the ICT Ministerial Committee in 1997, which was chaired by the Prime Minister to coordinate and oversee developments in the implementation of the ICT agenda in Lebanon.

In 1998, the first IT national policy and strategy was developed.

This encompassed both public and private initiatives.

In 2002, an e-Government strategy was produced ; this was followed in 2003 by more comprehensive e-Strategy and e-Readiness studies and reports with recommendations to achieve reform both in government and nationally.

Since then, much change has taken place both in Lebanon and in the application of ICT technology to promote reform of the government.

In this respect, progress was made in a number of e-Government projects in the Lebanese Government, including key steps to establishing a legal framework that will permit the use of electronic processes in conducting business.

In addition, the communications infrastructure in Lebanon, which is essential to realizing the full benefits of e-Government, has been modernized [1].

This article mainly tackles the vision of the e-Government strategy in Lebanon.

Further, it alludes to ICT applications in Lebanon, with special emphasis on ICT in public administration, e-Government solutions and availability, and adoption and use of e-procurement applications.