ESIS Extension / Lebanon / IS Promotional Activities / Master Report

Many ministries have already set up a web site in order to better communicate with the public at large and better explain their mission. Not all sites are really useful for the citizen to be satisfied; the updating system seems inadequate. However the leading administration that is spending a lot of effort in promoting a global strategy for the information society in the public sector is the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR) http://www.omsar.gov.lb

The main purpose of the administrative reform in the Government of Lebanon is to develop a new substantive relationship with the public and enhance the role of the government through good governance. Among the strategic means to be used are the latest possibilities offered by information technology (IT). It is claimed that this IT will be exploited to the maximum and used in the streamlining of administration, financial management, material management, and insertion of anti-corruption devices in a simplified system of public administration.

It is worth mentioning that the OMSAR actions are conducted with the help of experts from foreign countries (France, Canada) and from the World Bank.

In line with what has been said above, OMSAR seems to have conceived a national plan to serve as a set of directives towards the information society. The content of this document, however, is not yet publicly available.

A number of actions already exist in the universities having departments teaching topics related to information society (audio-visual media, journalism). The program content of business and economics departments is in some cases being modified to include topics on the economics of information and new technologies, electronic commerce, technologies for business processes etc…

As a general rule, all universities have libraries equipped with adapted hardware and software to serve the students by remote access.

The local press is contributing more and more to the awareness of the public for the information society. Two daily newspapers are publishing regularly once every week a full page related to Internet and its various uses.

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commision, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.