Information and Communications Technology (ICT) stands undisputed as the sector with the greatest importance for any country seeking to position itself at the forefront of the “knowledge” economy. Banking and education are key, but manufacturing automation, health care, hospitality, logistics, media and all other advanced services industries depend on ICT. Modern government and public sector administration are increasingly being defined by ICT. The sector’s eminence in national economies has been thrust into the limelight through fabled cases such as Ireland’s 1990s record rise from European economic backwater to high-growth technology and services hub. To Lebanon, Ireland’s rise was an oft-quoted example in discussions on the economic and social potential of ICT because the population and labor market in both countries were similar. Subsequent convergent phases of global new economy optimism and Lebanon’s own developmental hopes in the mid to late 90s, led the country and its business elite to revel
