The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) holds a meeting to discuss challenges to the development and adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) applications in the region, with a special focus on e-services in the public sector. The meeting will recommend steps to overcome these challenges, focusing on accelerating the deployment of these applications and providing effective e-services.

ESCWA opens the expert group meeting on ICT applications and e-services in the public sector on 9:30 AM on Monday 20 July, at the UN House, Beirut. The meeting will provide a platform for sharing experiences of selected countries, and overview strategies in countries with advanced e-sector, like Tunisia.

The topic of ICT applications and e-services in the public sector is quite diverse. In fact, only few e-services have been the subject of discussion in recent conferences and meetings, especially e-government. Since the remaining e-services are important, this meeting will cover services such as e-government, e-payment, e-commerce, e-learning, e-health, and e-employment.

The meeting will tackle the status of the ICT applications, the challenges facing the sector, the requirements for introducing or improving ICT applications and e-services such as sustainable strategies and policies, capacity building, infrastructure, financing and legal frameworks. It will also look into latest trends such as mobile services and applications, and the importance of public-private partnerships and regional cooperation for developing and enhancing e-services in the ESCWA region.