The electronic signature and hosting of public data was the subject of workshops on 3 and 4 November 2026. WHOAR presented its work on 10 November. Organized with Macmillan Keck, these meetings focus on the necessary rules, responsibilities and administrative capacity. They do not announce the opening of a new digital service to citizens.
Electronic signature in Lebanon requires applicable rules
The office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform brought together the stakeholders concerned on the conditions for a reliable electronic signature. The round table discussed, inter alia, a new decree and the preparation of the necessary legislation for its implementation. The release does not give the number of the order under review.
Another session trained the board members of COLIBAC, the Lebanese accreditation body. It dealt with its role in electronic signature under Act No. 81. Exchanges thus involve the examination of texts in the preparation of the institution responsible for their implementation.
The electronic signature is not limited to the image of a handwritten signature added to a document. Confidence devices can use certificates and cryptographic mechanisms. They are used in particular to verify the origin of a signature and the integrity of the document. Their use requires control rules and a division of responsibilities.
A World Bank note issued in December 2024 describes the Lebanese framework under Law 81 of 2018. It recalls the legal recognition of electronic signatures and the role of COLIBAC in regulating high-trust arrangements. This legal basis does not exempt the organisation of accreditation, controls and practical uses.
For the cloud, a government policy to define
The second project concerns the storage and processing of data in the public sector through cloud technologies. The consultation focused on preliminary findings and assumptions. Participants discussed priorities, opportunities and gaps in the preparation of recommendations.
The announced goal is to build a clear government policy for the adoption of these services. The press release does not designate a selected host. It does not announce a newly opened data centre or migration schedule for administrations. Nor does it specify the categories of data that would be transferred.
The word « public » here refers to the administrations concerned. It does not mean that their files would become accessible to all. The conditions of accommodation, access and protection constitute part of the governance work to be established.
Funded preparation, separate from deployment
According to WHOAR, these activities fall under a World Bank-funded preparatory grant for the Lebanon Digital Acceleration Project, or LDAP. They must help establish a safer and better connected public service base.
The OMSAR contract register confirms a mission entrusted to Macmillan Keck on the basis of electronic signature. Its scope includes an overview, a roadmap, drafting of legal instruments and capacity-building. The amount published is $311,312 for a period of 22 weeks. This advisory contract is not an announcement of commissioning.
The larger digital project has $150 million in funding approved by the World Bank in January 2026. The institution states that it must support secure hosting of public data and cybersecurity. It also plans to strengthen the legal, institutional and human bases of digital services. This overall envelope is therefore not the only cost of the November workshops.
Three steps must remain legible for users. The texts define the legal conditions. Governance specifies who authorizes, controls and assumes responsibility. The deployment then makes functions usable in identified jurisdictions. The workshops document the first two components. Their report does not yet provide a list of newly feasible online approaches or a date for opening up to the public.
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