Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka

Public servants, especially heads of government institutions and Chief Innovative Officers, have a pivotal role to play in the implementation of policy statements of any government, said Inform ation and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) Chairman, Prof. P. W. Epasinhge.
The professor said so in his keynote address at the first of several national eGovernment policy workshops planned for this year, held at Water's Edge,  Colombo last Thursday (18) from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. 
Alluding to his forte, Mathematics, Prof. Epasinghe said that while one usually cannot do anything to make the impossible possible, man has an almost infinite capacity to make great progress in the achievement of difficult goals. 
The Professor said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had achieved what was considered impossible.  "Before 2005, it was only the opposition that spoke about the election manifesto of the incumbent government after the election. But the current government had kept the Mahinda Chintanaya of 2005 constantly in mind and fulfilled it successfully.  The Idiri Dekma was an Extension of the Chintnaya.
The Professor said that the enthusiasm of the participants in the workshop was a sure sign that they would contribute their all important share towards the execution of the government's policy statement successfully in all spheres, including ICT, with the difficult but not impossible task of making Sri Lanka reach 75% ICT literacy by 2017.
More than 170 participated in this first workshop for expediting the implementation of the cabinet approved eGovernment policy,  presented by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently.
All the participants, comprising two each from 85 government departments  or statutory bodies showed avid interest in the workshops, which were well organised, with presentations that explained eGovernment policy in a clear and practical manner. The duo from each  orgaisation consisted of the Head of the Institution and its Chief Innovative Officer.

The Information and Communication Technology Agency(ICTA) had been able to train around 10,000 Government Service officers in 350 public sector institutions in 13 districts by providing skills and competence to manage and administer e-Government projects including Lanka Government Network(LGN) through its ICT HR Capacity Building Program, Program Manager Nalani Senasekera told the Daily News yesterday.
Certain Government institutions such as District Secretariat, Registrar General’s Department and Registrar of Motor Traffic Department have already been able to apply their skills to provide an efficient service to the public. Some institutions are yet to applied of computerized service even after obtaining the training, she added.
She said that 325 Government institutions had been provided with all the necessary computers and accessories by ICTA as an initial step. According to Senasekera ICTA had developed a unique “ICT skills framework” identifying the specific skills needed at different staff levels and categories such as Senior Managers, Project Managers, IT Managers and general staffers under the Capacity Building Program. The framework was developed after extensive consultation with experts from the public sector, private sector as well as partners of the World Bank.
The framework has been modularized having a flexibility to adopt them as they require and address new future needs. ICTA had been engaged in providing skill training for Government organizations and departments in Western Province and fund ICT skill training under the General Skills of the framework covering three modules namely CT Awareness, ICT Foundation and ICT Certificates.