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Launching the Information Economy Report 2013 From UN House in Beirut

09
December
2013

In a seminar held at the UN House, Beirut, ESCWA launched the Information Economy Report 2013 on 2 December, in the presence of experts in the fields of economic issues and information and communication technologies.

Chief of the ICT Applications Section at the Information and Communications Division in ESCWA (ICTD) Nibal Idlebi briefly presented the report, while Associate Economic Affairs Officer at UNCTAD Marie Sicat detailed its global findings and while ICTD Information Technology Officer Rami Zaatari delivered a presentation on the regional aspects of the report.

The 2013 Information Economy Report is subtitled The Cloud Economy and Developing Countries. This year's report is the 8th in a series of reports launched by UNCTAD every annually, it is also the 5th report launched in the Arab region in cooperation with ESCWA.

The report shows the ecosystem of cloud computing, explaining new trends of this economy, especially involving ICT infrastructure. A big part of the report is devoted to examine and analyze the impact of cloud computing on developing countries, as it clarifies that adopting the cloud system could have repercussions on the offer and demand, which highlights diverse legal and regulatory challenges.
Despite said challenges, the report invites governments, especially those in developing countries, to establish cloud strategies to facilitate access to public services, and put together an enabling framework that supports and guarantees market competitiveness for cloud economy. The report also states the need to adopt cloud strategies as part of overall national development plans to achieve socio-economic development.

Cloud computing is like other comprehensive technological matrices, which will be depended on, on the individual, national and regional levels. It is therefore important to pay closer attention to it fast and to provide all means that help in using it in the best possible ways, thus pushing forth economic development for the benefit of all people in the region, regardless of their social standing.

To download or read the report, please consult the following website:
http://unctad.org/en/Pages/Publications/InformationEconomyReportSeries.aspx