Economic Growth & Catalyzation: Insights from LEBTECH 2026

In an era where national prosperity is inextricably tethered to digital infrastructure, LEBTECH 2026 emerged as a technology summit uniting more than 6300 professionals across various fields. The three-day conference jetpacked the architectural blueprint for Lebanon’s economic resurgence. In its 6th edition, LEBTECH highlighted a thriving startup ecosystem pushing for technological advancement despite Lebanon's severe economic and infrastructure crises.

Beyond showcasing technical innovation, LEBTECH 2026 established a pragmatic framework for institutional reform, cross-border capital investment, and human capital retention. It shapes itself as the hub of knowhow for emerging technologies, and rather a mitigation technique for the economy’s evolution, growth and ambitions. Various topics were addressed in this summit, including the automation of tasks using AI, Cryptocurrency regulation, AI content creations and its ethics, and most importantly the digital acceleration of governance through Lebanon's national cybersecurity framework, and the “Dawlati” digitization project.

I) LEBTECH in the History of Economic Development

If we place ourselves in a historical timeline, it seems that LEBTECH has been drawing on precedents. The summit was not only a gathering and an opportunity for networking, but also a pivot that hopes to contribute towards the momentum that our era nowadays possesses. The fostering of today’s remainder of human capital in Lebanon is shifting equilibria to a more benevolent future. Some of the lessons grasped by LEBTECH were:

1. A Historical Momentum: The AI revolution is changing the global economic structure, presenting a new gateway for rapid modernization and guaranteeing long run economic prosperity. Going back to the era of Industrialization, the “Early Comer” advantage has been concretized by Japan’s fast pace modernization, which further on has been able to outgrow European powers. Later on within the digital revolution of 2009, South East Asia built on this lesson and set itself as a key development hub for emerging technologies. Nowadays, with the gateway of the AI revolution, it is all a matter of choice within different nations to either embrace it and catalyze our production, or remain where we are today.
   

2. Investment Orchestrated: The Korean Miracle of the 1960s shocked the world with the rapid economic growth that channeled from business coordination and complementarity of sectors. Using precise matchmaking, the South Korean macro-economy transitioned from a subsequent economy, to the hegemon of production we know today. Although not at a similar scale, LEBTECH has been playing the role of social planning by connecting businesses together, bridging minds, and hosting a thriving startup ecosystem. Digitize.technology & Akamai gave 500 USD worth of Akamai credits to all twelve start up participants in the startup world cup, fostering an environment that elevates ideas with the necessary tools to experience it. Not to be outdone, they also awarded a total of 5000 USD worth of prizes within their booth. As Product & Technology Associate at Digitize Carl Matta insisted: “Everyone is a winner with Digitize and Akamai”. It is not only a matter of winning a competition, or prizes, but also the connection that leads to the growth of both businesses together. The example of Digitize in Lebanon is one of the many examples of Orchestrated Investment, Business Coordination, and an “All-Winner” scenario.

3. Governmental Complementarity: Economists usually avoid governmental intervention due to its hollow out of private investment performance. However in many cases, governmental plans play a crucial role in shifting incentives to facilitate private investment rather than choking it. Similar to the Polish Balcerowicz plan of the 1990s, the Office of the Minister of the State for Administrative Reforms (OMSAR) is shifting governmental incentives in a scheme of facilitation, promotion of growth, and advancement towards the modern era. As a first step towards Digitization, the OMSAR inaugurated the DAWLATI platform, a single platform to access the integrity of governmental services of Lebanon with details of submissions & payments. Policy Consultant for the OMSAR, Mr. Hussein Sharafeddine, expressed the long run project of Dawlati as a platform for tracking, digitizing and paying for official governmental services. Such a project would increase investors’ trust within Lebanese authorities, not only in terms of a testament of progress, but would also assure different stakeholders and clarify the different vague variables which they may need to be taken into account before investing any assets.

As we can witness so far, the conference of LEBTECH aggregated the different lessons learnt from Economic History into one single space. Although this effect might be unconscious, there is little to no doubt of an alignment within the pathway of economic development.

II) The All Winner Scenario

A major aspect of the conference shed light on how cooperation and constant regrouping is paving the way towards an “All Winner” scheme. The scale of cooperation between businesses, clients meeting new suppliers, and the professionalism behind every innovation portrayed an investment Utopia, which underlines the major problem in Lebanon: A lack of matchmaking.

Lebanon’s economy has been an odd paradox within the macro-economic scheme. Although the country has been exporting its talent to major megalopolises, it remains under its potential GDP. A lack of connection, trust, and security have been a major drawback for the Lebanese economy. Young entrepreneurs were not aware of the different facilities other startups are providing, where a strong correlation between provider & client’s success reveals itself. As Joseph Matta, Network & IoT associate at Digitize, explained, the LEBTECH conference showcased the need for their different products within the enterprise world. These three days gave them exposure to more than 5000 people, and revealed an updated demand upon their services. From cybersecurity, to cloud hosting, to systems integration and full on AI automation, Digitize showcased that an immersion into the online realm would only be one handshake away. It is also worth mentioning the high level of startup founders, or prospective ones who found themselves on the spot with major collaborators willing to assist, knowing well the potential profits they may get.

Drawing from behavioral economics, LEBTECH broke the “underestimation curse”, which haunts Lebanon’s aggregate market in our contemporary era. Visualizing the scenario of young entrepreneurs, they constantly underestimate the potential demand for their goods, despite Lebanon having a total consumption worth around 110% of its GDP. From such an underestimate lies ahead the lack of incentive and the misexpectation. Nonetheless, the illusion of unfavorable conditions has rather been demolished with the constant reminder of potential collaborators and like-minded peers who dare to take the risk.

Repeating Carl Matta’s quote “ Everyone is a winner with Digitize & Akamai”. However, the scale leveled up to the whole conference. An all-winner mindset and regain of trust is undoubtedly a paramount step ahead not only towards economic recovery, but also to prepare ourselves for the new economic era.

III) DAWLATI: Regaining Confidence

The major upgrade from the fifth edition was the considerable presence of the public sector within the conference. From one side the Ministry of Education and Higher Education explained its digital transformation strategy, and from the other was a revolutionary move from the OMSAR: DAWLATI.

Drawing back to the BeirutOne conference, organized by the Ministry of the Economy and Trade on the 11th and 12th of November 2025, the idea of regaining confidence within the private sector has been a paramount step for Lebanon’s recovery plan. Dawlati manifested itself as the major stronghold of regaining confidence. The major issue in dealing with the Lebanese public sector was not the lack of guarantee, but rather the uncertainty of many variables. This single platform has reasserted confidence between public and private sector with a form of clearance of the various variables that were drawing investment back. While in constant development, his excellency the Minister of Administrative Reforms Dr. Fadi Makki expressed his intention of completing at least 50% of the administrative services (i.e. 1350 services) within the upcoming three years.

The idea of such a platform is not only a mere symbolism of a willingness to work, but rather the result of a deep dive of the different drawbacks within the Lebanese Economy. Dawlati is facilitating access to official paperwork, thus removing any incentive of bribing and any form of corruption. Nonetheless, it seeks to clear up the void of uncertainty by giving an accurate timeframe of each paperwork, its different needs, and a tracking system capable of complementing private investors’ plans.

Sharafeddine expressed the OMSAR’s incentives of meeting the private sector’s needs. Through LEBTECH, they were able to decipher the different options of partnerships, raise their awareness of the different needs of the private sector, and further develop a complementary scheme where the public sector encourages the private sector, instead of hollowing it out. He emphasized on OMSAR’s willingness to know more and join LEBTECH on a higher scale with a larger public sector involvement, and a desire to hear more feedback from the citizens’ perspective.

IV) A Forward Ambition

From a sustainable point of view, LEBTECH was not uniting individuals in terms of Capital level, but rather a common ambition. Communication Skills Specialist Shady Khairallah emphasized this spectrum of success, portraying it more as a common vision rather than a simple title. From ministers to wealthy entrepreneurs to fresh graduates and interns, participants were all sharing a similar vision of growth, cooperation, sustainability and a forward ambition. Khairallah also portrayed the growth from last year, as he explains how LEBTECH progressed from only tackling the definition of AI in 2025, to nowadays problems we are facing. The conference is not a repetition of what has already been said, but a deep dive around our contemporary issues.

Software Development Manager & Digital Transformation Engineer Maroun El Kady viewed this growth from two different perspectives. The first is the importance and adoption of the topics discussed across both the public and private sectors, while the second is the growing awareness of how these changes are affecting organizations in practice. Based on what El Kady emphasized, we can witness not only individual awareness, but also a broader sense of shared responsibility and common direction.

LEBTECH highlighted the areas that are often underestimated and showcased a willingness among all concerned parties to move forward, contributing to stronger growth, increased confidence in future development, and, most importantly, a more sustainable future.

Nonetheless, Master of Ceremony Rudy Shoushany further expressed the incentive to continue the exponential growth of the event, with more startups joining in and a further diversification of expertise present. Shoushany also highlighted the considerable positive feedback received, and the sixth edition statistics being double than last edition.

V) The 7th edition

With such a large amount of positive externalities coming from only one conference, it is more than natural to wonder what comes next, and where can we expect ourselves in the seventh edition. From what we have witnessed in the sixth edition, here is what to expect next year.

1. An even higher number of participants: Shoushany expressed the willingness to even double the amount & stats next edition. Co-founder of Elite Solutions Johnny Jneid also hoped for a larger amount of startup involvement and a larger scale for the following edition.

2. A higher involvement in startups: As mentioned before with the all-winner scenario, LEBTECH has been acting as a foster for startups to kickstart their journey in a rather open manner.

3. Increase in the Public Sector’s engagement: As H.E. Makki emphasized that the public offices would be ten times more present. The aim is to have all ministries and public offices be present in the next edition, and hopefully sponsor the whole event.

Conclusion

LEBTECH 2026 demonstrates that Lebanon's economic resurgence relies not on isolated interventions, but on structural convergence, coordinated investment, and institutional trust by synthesizing historical economic lessons. From the orchestrated investment frameworks to the complementary public reforms of post-transitional economies, the summit provided a concrete blueprint to overcome the nation's structural drag and break its long-standing underestimation curse. Innovations such as OMSAR’s "Dawlati" platform exemplify how digital governance can eliminate administrative uncertainty, dismantle systemic inefficiencies, and rebuild investor confidence through transparent public-private collaboration. Furthermore, by facilitating deliberate market matchmaking and uniting ministers, founders, and emerging talent around a shared forward ambition, LEBTECH established an enduring "All-Winner" paradigm. As the summit prepares for its seventh edition with projected growth in startup participation and expanded public sector sponsorship, it confirms that high-skilled human capital remains Lebanon’s most vital economic asset. Ultimately, LEBTECH 2026 proves that digital acceleration is far more than a defensive coping strategy, it is the primary engine for sustainable economic growth, institutional renewal, and national prosperity.

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