Lebanon has fallen behind four other countries in the region in terms of electronic government development, according to the 2003 United Nations e-government readiness index. The survey ranked Lebanon 69th among 173 countries surveyed worldwide and fifth among 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The survey rates the standard of citizens’ access to their government’s on-line facilities and the government’s ability to interact with its citizens electronically.
Critics said the index, released by Saradar Investment House, revealed a widening gap between the government’s wishes and its actions in the technology sector, an industry regarded as the key to the country’s economic recovery.
Lebanon trailed behind the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Algeria in the three separate sub-indices which gauged web penetration, telecommunications infrastructure and human capital.
In the Arab world, Lebanon ranked sixth in terms of government facilities and services, fifth in terms of the penetration of telecommunications infrastructure (like personal computers and telephone lines) and second in terms of literacy rates and school enrollment.
Lebanon earned a composite score of 0.424 points. Israel rated higher than all the Arab states at 0.663 points. Singapore was the highest-ranked developing country with 0.746 points, and the United States came in first at 0.927 points.
Lebanon scored higher than the global average of 0.402 points, and the Middle East North Africa region’s average of 0.366 points. It ranked above Tunisia, Indonesia and Belize, but came behind Fiji and Costa Rica.
The study found a correlation between high scores and an official IT strategy. Many local companies have criticized the Lebanese government for the lack of a coherent IT strategy.
Consumers, trade associations, and figures in the burgeoning local software sector have also expressed disappointment at the country’s curious lack of high-speed broadband connections, wireless internet and connection costs that far exceed the region’s average.
Successful Arab states, like the UAE, have set clear objectives and diligently executed those targets, according to Charbel Fakhoury, the general manager of Microsoft Eastern Mediterranean, which is based in Beirut.
He said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who visited the region in January, was particularly impressed by e-government initiatives in Egypt and Jordan, where governments have encouraged local hi-tech companies by offering incentives and developing large-scale IT projects.
“Six years ago, Lebanon had an IT vision at a time when this was not common in other Arab countries, but we failed in the execution,” he said.
“Maybe it was not a clear priority,” he said, arguing that developed countries should set up IT ministries to expedite and streamline technology projects.
An example of this shortcoming is the fact that there has been no official explanation of the delay or current status of BETZ, the Beirut Emerging Technology Zone, a multi-million-dollar project for which a feasibility study was completed over a year ago.
However, Fakhoury said progress had been made on Microsoft’s e-government assistance to the Lebanese
government, adding that many ministries had expressed
great interest in electronic restructuring plans.
There are still deficiencies in the ministries’ ability to communicate with each other, he said, and in their capacity to provide citizens with interactive services, rather than merely display documents on-line.
Intel Corporation, the world’s largest chip maker, has also been making strides to quicken the pace at which e-government is established in Lebanon. Since an October 2003 closed-door visit by Intel CEO Craig Barrett, the company has been working on several e-government projects, has lobbied for broadband and instituted educational programs like the AUB Intel Finance Competency Center.
Quelle: The Daily Star, 06.02.204
