The ICT Division of ESCWA held the workshop entitled "Building Trust and Confidence in Arabic e-Services" in Beirut, from 25 to 27 May 2010.  The workshop aimed at raising awareness and sharing best practices among member countries on issues related to trust building, securing data, personal data and individual privacy, as well developing national policies to protect the cyberspace and its applications from threats.

It was attended by 25 participants, including representatives of ministries of information and communication from 12 of the 14 ESCWA member countries, a Tunisian expert, specialists from two private-sector companies (Microsoft and Cisco), in addition to a number of experts and technicians.

The workshop covered various issues related to national and legal frameworks for building trust in e-Services, best practices in building trust in e-Services, experiences from the ESCWA region in building trust in Arabic e-Services and Lebanese experience in e-Banking sector.  The sessions made use of video-teleconferencing technology, with the added benefit of reducing the costs and carbon footprint of the meeting.  This technique was highly successful and allowed clear communication between the remote experts and the participants. 

The workshop recommendations revolve around the formulation of a national strategy for trust-building and security in using e-services.  Recommendations call for training of judges and lawyers on the application of cyber legislations and launching awareness campaigns targeting the public sector, employers, individuals, families and children on the protection mechanisms in the digital environment and methods of safe and ethical interaction with the digital environment.  Cooperation in the legal field and the use of conventions and international or regional treaties and memoranda of understanding in the field of cyber legislation was also recommended.  The workshop called for developing local cyber legislations and mainstreaming courses related to information and dealing with technological issues in higher-education curricula in law schools.

Inquiries and requests for additional information on the workshop should be ‎addressed to: ‎

Ms. Nibal Idlebi, Chief, ICT Applications Section, ICT Division, ESCWA, PO Box 11-8575, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: +961-1-978540, Fax: +961-1-981510, Email: idlebi@un.org