Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka

eServices give tea smallholders just their cup of tea

Friday, 10 May 2013 10:04

With eServices kicked off at the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority (TSHDA) recently, tea smallholders have begun to find doing their cultivation and business duties just their cup of tea.

The eServices project that empowers the tea smallholders thus is the fruition of the joint effort of TSHDA and the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and TSHDA. The project thus making life easier for the tea smallholder was officially launched by Plantation Industries Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe at the TSHDA auditorium on May 2nd. Addressing on this occasion the audience including Government officials and representatives of the country’s tea smallholder societies totaling about 1200, the Minister underlined the importance of the tea smallholders. Unlike what many think 75 per cent of the country’s total tea industry revenue comes from tea small holdings. Speaking further on the occasion the Minister requested TSHDA to ensure that proper training in the use of relevant eServices is given to tea smallholders who total about 400,000 island-wide. Speedy action in this regard is important, the Minister urged.

Sri Lanka’s NRI ranking 69th out of 144 proves its great ICT strides: ICTA CEO

Wednesday, 24 April 2013 11:21

The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2013 reflects the great and multiple strides reached in the country’s ICT sector, says ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) CEO, Reshan Dewapura.

“The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) published for the 12th consecutive year corroborates that Sri Lanka continues to make huge progress in the ICT sector. The report published by the World Economic Forum and the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" (INSEAD) is a source of strength for the country to advance further”, Dewapura added.

Sri Lanka has improved its ICT standing including the overall position by two places in the Global Networked Readiness Index (NRI) published in the ‘Global Information Technology Report (GITR)’ 2013. Last year this overall position stood at 71. This year it stands at 69.

The NRI assesses the comparative impact of ICT in the countries concerned (144 economies in 2013) under four sub-indices and 10 pillars coming under these sub-indexes and several indicators under the pillars. The sub-indexes are environment, readiness, usage, and impact. The pillars are: political and regulatory environment, business and innovation environment, infrastructure and digital content, affordability, skills, individual usage, business usage, Government usage, economic impacts and social impacts.

Country on path to ‘Smart Sri Lanka’– ICTA CEO

Tuesday, 09 April 2013 10:48

‘Sri Lanka is now journeying from version 1.0 to version 2.0 of Development Agenda, ‘Smart Sri Lanka’ moving from pure technology and focusing more on innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship and inclusion’. This was stated by ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) CEO Reshan Dewapura Tuesday (19) while participating as Chief Guest at the inauguration of IBMSoftwareUniverse2013 in Colombo. Organised by IBM Sri Lanka, this was the first ever ‘IBMSoftware held in Sri Lanka.

Delivering his keynote speech on the occasion, Dewapura explained to a full house at the Oak room at Cinnamon Grand, Colombo the buzz phrase ‘Smart Sri Lanka’: “In the spirit of this event, the IBM Software Universe, where we have heard much about a smarter planet, let’s refer to this version 2.0 of the e-Development Agenda as ‘Smart Sri Lanka’. Version 1.0 was e-Sri Lanka, and by coining this new phrase we are now moving above and beyond pure technology, and focusing more on innovation, transformation, entrepreneurship and inclusion”. Highlighting the differentiator component of the endeavour Dewapura said further: “ Benefitting from the latest advances in technology, more intelligence and smartness could be induced to the country, in all activities in all sections.

Director of Software Sales & Marketing, IBM India / South Asia, Jason Mosakowski , Director-IT, Agro Harapan Lestari Pvt. Ltd., Kevin de Silva, Country General Manager, IBM Sri Lanka, Chrishan M Fernando and, Head of Software Group, IBM Sri Lanka Channa de Silva also spoke at the inauguration session.