Legal and Regulatory Requirements for a Sustainable Knowledge Society in the Arab Region

Under the patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications, His Excellency Nicolas Sehnaoui, ESCWA organized a Seminar on Legal and Regulatory Requirements for a Sustainable Knowledge Society in the Arab Region at the UN House in Beirut on 19 and 20 December 2012. The seminar focused on setting a sustainable path for cyber legislation in the region which is expected to promote competitiveness and economic diversity. Improvements resulting from the enactment of cyber law will help remedy serious problems affecting the economies of the region, namely brain drain, capital drain, unemployment and low productivity.

A regionally harmonized approach to cyber legislation is needed in order to promote the development of the knowledge society and high technology sector in the Arab region, a modern. Governments, international organizations, the private sector and NGOs, are each important stakeholders in this process. Since 2009, ESCWA has been in the process of implementing a project entitled Regional Harmonization of Cyber Legislation to Promote the Knowledge Society in the Arab World, which aimed at enhancing regional integration and strengthening the capacity of member countries to build a strong and sustainable ICT sector through the development of appropriate legal and regulatory structures. Within the framework of this project, ESCWA developed a set of directives designed to assist Arab countries in the development of national cyber laws and to harmonize cyber legislation on a regional level. This project also included the promotion and dissemination of the ESCWA Cyber Legislation Directives, the provision of related advisory services and the organisation of capacity building workshops to train relevant individuals on their application at the national level.

The seminar targeted participants from the public sector, particularly legal and ICT ministries, the private sector and academia in the Arab countries. It also brought together regional and international experts in the field of cyber legislation to show the experience of other regions and to present new features of cyber legislation that fulfil the needs of emerging trends of ICT sector, ICT applications and services.