The priest
The President of Notre Dame University gave a speech in which he said: “I stand today to officially announce, from the edifice of Notre Dame University, that we are no longer waiting for the future, but rather we have become part of it. We began working on the artificial intelligence file a year and a half ago, not only as a software tool, but as a comprehensive approach that extends to research, curricula, and even school training.”
He continued, saying: “You have all discovered through our website and new systems how artificial intelligence is changing the face of work. Today we are establishing a culture of new technology, but with a strict commitment to the basic principle of preserving our ethics and traditions while adopting innovation. Artificial intelligence is not just a fad or a technical weapon, but rather a reality that has imposed itself. We at the university, through our programs and students, seek to be pioneers in this field.”
He added: “We are proud of our past and do not forget it, but we refuse to be victims of intellectual migration, as happened during geographical migrations and the transformations that accompanied them. Artificial intelligence must take us to a better future without erasing our originality. Today we are preparing to launch an observatory for artificial intelligence, a project we have worked on for a long time to be the first of its kind, with the aim of transforming us from consumers of ideas into producers.”
He addressed Minister Shehadeh and the students by saying: “His Excellency the Minister, these young people possess energies that may exceed our knowledge in some technical aspects, and we want to be a support for them. We will not allow time to desert us intellectually. We will remain rooted in our Lebanese values and in the authenticity of Notre Dame University, while we lead the technological transformation. We are not just an ordinary institution, we are an exception, and together we will build a better and better reality for the future of our education and our country.”
Shehada
For his part, Shehadeh explained: “My presence here today stems from an unusual partnership between two institutions with one message. The university’s mission is to prepare a generation for the future, a generation that is committed to its land and confident in its ability to succeed globally. As for the ministry’s message, it is to prepare Lebanon to adapt to the rapid transformations that the world is witnessing, especially digital transformations, to build a republic that suits your ambitions and serves your dreams, so that remaining in this country is an option stemming from freedom and prosperity.”
He added, “Today we live in a world facing major challenges resulting from technical development and artificial intelligence. The most important thing that distinguishes this stage is the speed of change. While the mobile phone took 30 years to reach a billion users, we find that artificial intelligence applications achieved this in just two months. We call this technology “disruptive technology,” not in the sense of negative sabotage, but because it creates confusion in old systems to create new opportunities from this confusion. This transformation imposes ethical and social challenges, “It affects the future of jobs, which requires us to be fully aware of how we use them.”
He continued, saying: “The Ministry is currently working through four basic axes to ensure keeping pace with this development: the legislative and institutional axis, the digital infrastructure, digital training and skills, and the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Despite the lack of budget in the Ministry, we have been able, through volunteer work and partnerships with the private sector, to achieve tangible achievements such as technological economic zones to establish technological zones and ministerial cooperation such as digital identity projects and others.”
He touched on “the idea of involving students in the ministry’s vision and strategy,” stressing that “students are active partners in shaping the future.”
He concluded his speech by saying: “We at the Ministry work with the mindset of startups. Our goal is to leap beyond the years of loss that Lebanon has gone through to reach a modern digital state that serves the citizen and saves time towards a better future.”
