“The Lebanese E-Government Experience”

1. “E-Government Applications and their benefits to the citizens” Conference Sheraton Coral Beach Hotel, Beirut, Lebanon 23 – 24 April 2002 “The Lebanese E-Government Experience” Dr. Raymond Khoury Technical Cooperation Unit Director Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (OMSAR), Lebanon

2. Presentation Outline • E-Government enablers • What has been achieved towards an E-government status? • The road ahead • Evolution of Lebanese E-Government projects • The Lebanese E-Government Strategy • Implementation roll-out scenarios

3. E-Government Policies and Procedures Hard Infrastructure Soft Infrastructure E-Government Enablers Institutionalizing Reforms ICT Laws and Regulations ICT Policy and Standards Human Resources Capacity Building Plans An E-Society Telecommunications Computer Networks System Applications

4. INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS VERTICAL APPLICATIONS HORIZONTAL APPLICATIONS ICT AND ADMIN LAWS TRAINING / AWARENESS HARDWARE / OPERATING SYSTEM E-Government Enablers (continued) NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE

5. What has been achieved … Hard Infrastructure Telecommunications Modern cabling infrastructure throughout country Voice and ISDN services in place Phase I of OGERO national MAN infrastructure being tested; Phase II and III already scoped Cellular operators ready to offer GPRS Government approved plans for privatizing MPT to create Liban Telecom Computer Networks Most ministries and agencies have a Local Area Network in place using latest standards and protocols Hundreds of servers (200+ from OMSAR projects) and Thousands of computers and peripherals have been deployed (3000+ PCs from OMSAR alone).

6. What has been achieved … Hard Infrastructure System Applications A number of vertical applications have been deployed (MoF tax system, NAJM customs system. Cadastre land registration system, Port of Beirut DMS, National Archives indexing and optical storage system, Legal Decisions DMS, .. etc.) NAJM 2 customs system expansion to cover all ports of entry (5 locations); Port tracker system application to address cargo manifest for port of Beirut. Other vertical applications under development include COOP medical benefits and compensation system, NSSF systems, Commercial Registration system, and Insurance Control Commission system. Some horizontal (cross agency) applications have been developed (Information offices, Budget System, ..etc.). Others in the works include HR database for the civil service, personnel and financial systems for agencies, ..etc. Multitude of General Security applications developed

7. What has been achieved … Policies and Procedures Institutionalizing needed Removal of outdated technical controls and updating reforms commercial code system Work on simplification of all government procedures Modernization of national tax system Work on new organizational structure of a number of ministries and autonomous agencies New public sector tendering law drafted along with implementation decrees ICT laws and regulations IPR and online banking laws passed in 1999 Digital Signature law under review by special parliament committee and near enactment. Work underway for drafting certificate authentication, privacy protection and other ICT laws

8. What has been achieved … Policies and Procedures ICT Policy and Standards Policy and strategy document prepared in 1999 Ministerial ICT committee appointed by Prime Minister in early 2001 to handle national ICT matters with private-public sector partnerships Standards guidelines for ICT projects in the public sector under preparation Work underway to produce a national ICT business plan in addition to an e-government strategy document Soft Infrastructure Human resources Good number of civil servants trained on ICT products (OMSAR has trained in access of 2500) A sizeable number of civil servants have been trained on administration of ICT solutions (some 150+ through OMSAR projects)

9. What has been achieved … Soft Infrastructure Human resources Assessments of ICT staff requirements for a number of ministries and agencies have been made. Draft of new ICT cadre and salary scale for government at large currently under review. Capacity building plans With the support of the local industry continuous or in- service training plans are being achieved. ICT events are also being attended on a constant basis by key government staff to stay current with global ICT developments. The new Institute for Public Administration to play a key role in in-service capacity building. An E-Society ICT awareness campaigns by the government are being prepared as well as Multi-purpose community telecenters. Private sector ICT awareness through radio and TV talk shows and organizing successful conference and exhibitions such as Termium.

10. The road ahead … • Current ICT achievements are mainly the result of grants and loans from international funding organizations (IFOs) i.e. fixed programs with pre-defined project components. Some government funds provided in-kind. A number of ICT projects fully funded by government. • A “situation” map on all e-government related achievements in the government is being formulated (The National Government Map) • All government services forms and their procedures involving ministries and agencies (1600) have been consolidated and documented – the foundations of the ‘digital nervous system’ for the Lebanese E-government. A ‘One-stop-shop’ point of information portal for these forms and procedures has been developed – informs.gov.lb. • With 2 & 3, a Government of Lebanon E-government Strategy and implementation plan is being formulated to be presented to senior officials as well as to IFOs to secure new funds to complete the implementation. Strategy and plan to cover local, national and international e-government requirements.

11. The road ahead … • Initial implementation focus will be on revenue generating / cost reducing applications such as bill collections, tourism services and e-procurement applications. Percentage of increased revenues should be earmarked for an e-government fund. • Cooperation with and technology transfer from international ICT conglomerates and consulting firms will be key throughout the implementation process. • Work is to continue on gradually building the optimal ICT cadre in the government to be able to handle ICT usage and administration requirements. • The general public, academia and business community will be involved in the e-government implementation plan so as to reach an E-society status in a timely manner. Expertise from Lebanese expatriates will also be solicited. • Sharing knowledge and expertise with regional countries will also be key.

12. Front Office Citizen-Oriented Projects 2002+ Back Office Beneficiary-Oriented Projects 1998-04 Donor-Guided Projects 1994-00 Base Evolution of Lebanese E-Government Projects

13. The Lebanese E-Government Strategy • Strategic Objectives: • Dissemination of all public sector information that a citizen is entitled to through various communication channels – the Internet, via hotlines, through government service centers, etc. • Fulfillment of all public sector services for citizens online through any government office or through the Internet regardless of the geographical location of this office or the residence of the citizen. • Reduction to a minimum the information and supporting documents required of a citizen to fill out a public sector formality. No re-entry of the same information is to be required. • Provision of a single point of notification for a citizen to use in informing the government of any change in personal or business information. • Realization of all government procurement processes online based on a harmonized commercial coding schema to become a lead example for electronic commerce on the national level. • Attainment of all intra-government information exchanges and communiqués online.

14. The Lebanese E-Government Strategy • Key Elements: • Capacity building and training for civil servants and society at large to utilize and benefit from e-government offerings. • Unification of data sources interconnected over a secure national and global state-of-the-art communications infrastructure. • Setting standards for e-government applications covering effective information dissemination and online services to the citizens as well as internal government applications for the civil servants. • Realization of a modern and durable e-government operations and management structure on a national and international basis. • Enacting and institutionalizing an effective legal and regulatory framework in support of all e-government applications.

15. The Lebanese E-Government Strategy • Work in Progress: • Preparation of a high level plan with estimated costs for E-Government roll-out over a period of 5 to 7 years. • Formalization of a criteria for success based on associated risks for each planned E-Government project implementation. • Identification and discussions with potential partners and funding sources for the fulfillment of the Lebanese E-Government program. • Collaborative discussions with the national private sector, academia and NGOs to constantly enhance the E-Government program.

16. Email / Web Presence Online Processing Electronic Communities - Real-time filing - Transfer of files - One-stop-shops / Portals - Live transactions - Access to info - E-procurement / Mktplaces - Q&A and chat - Pull / Push tech - E-Commerce - Workflow-enabled - Sending inquiries - HRMS, Financial Services - Specialized DSS - Announcements - Intra-government DSS One Way Communication Two Way Communication Multi-directional Communication Ministry, Agency or Embassy specific Government-wide Implementation roll-out scenarios Situation I Situation II Situation III

17. Thank You!

18. Multi-purpose Community TelecenterFloor Plan

19. Multi-purpose Community Telecenter3D Perspective

20. SPECIAL PURPOSE AGENCIES The Higher Council of Central Commission Development Bank for and Central Fund of Relief Reconstruction the Displaced Agency for the People Organization of National Council South-West National for Scientific Suburb of Beirut Archiving Research City Council of the Public Agency Agency (Elissar) South for Encouraging PUBLIC MUNICIPALITIES Investment AGENCIES CIVIL SERVICE MINISTRIES Large Ministry Ministry of Foreign Municipalities Water of Ministry of Economy Affairs and Controlled by the Authorities Justice Lebanese and Trade Immigrants Court of Audit University Ministry of Beirut Information Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Ministry of Finance + Tourism National Displaced Agricultural National Lottery Defense Scientific Ministry of CENTRAL Research Authority Interior Small BODIES and Ministry of Municipalities Municipalities Social Affairs Public Presidency Hospitals The of the Ministry of Management Presidency of Parliament Republic Public Works Council for Agency Ministry of the Council of and Execution of Public Health Ministers Transportation Major Projects Civil for the City of National Central National Central Service Beirut Employmen Inspection Institute for Disciplinary Board Ministry Of National Defense Ministry Court of t Agency Commission Ministry of Bank Deposit Board of Labor Accounts Environment Insurance Ministry of Regie National OMSAR Constitutional Agricultrure Administra Railways and Music Ministry of Religious Assembly tion Public Institute Telecommunications Judiciary Transportation Authority Ministry of Youth and Sports Ministry of Internal Fund Executive Ministry of Energy and for Technical Council Industry and Vocational Water for Major Ministry of National Education Projects OGERO and Higher Education Ministry of Culture National Exhibition of Social Agency for the President Security Establishment Rachid Fund Sports City and Karame Agency Public Management of Port of Agency of Industrial Zones Beirut Housing Cooperative of Government Oil Refineries Employees at Tripoli and Central Fund Zahrani for Social Affairs The NationalGovernmentMap

21. The Internet… www.informs.gov.lb The Hotline… 1700

22. Geographic Distribution of Ministries and Agencies

23. Data Center Data Center Digital Nerve System Information Flow between Ministries and Agencies

24. National ID Smart Cards Digital Nerve System Data Centers Data Center Data Center Data Center Principle Pillars of the Lebanese e-government…

25. Data Center E-government Databases (G-to-C, G-to-B, and G-to-G applications

26. National Smart Card with PKI and/or Biometrics • Principle application:National ID card with MRF containing the following information • Civil records • Medical information • Social security and/or insurance • Tax information • Driver’s license • Election card • Others