When I was appointed Minister of State for Investments and Technology (MSIT) in February 2019, I was thrilled to champion the most promising and vibrant economic sector in Lebanon. Technology is often reduced to mean “iPhone” or “app”, but the term can also refer to a rocket, a vaccine, a driverless car or a smart mattress. Technology, embedded in and propelled by the knowledge economy, has skyrocketed over the last 100 years, enabling societies to leapfrog across sectors. And leapfrogging is exactly what Lebanon needs. The country faces colossal problems: rampant poverty, the economic crisis, health, environmental, educational and infrastructural failures. Our success, our triumph, is dependent on centering and strengthening the rise of the knowledge economy in Lebanon. What are we waiting for? We desperately need to reinvent the Lebanese economic model: to focus on productive sectors, producing and exporting more. This collapse is a pivotal opportunity for the
