ICTA to ease public by connecting 150 Govt. institutions besides 325

ICTA signed a contract with Samsung Networks Inc. for implementing and managing the Lanka Government Network (LGN) - Stage II project at ICTA premises recently (last Tuesday 29).

This phase II will rope in 150 Government institutions and render them ‘connected’ making the total to 475 with the 325 ‘connected’ under phase I also implemented by Samsung Networks Inc.

The public of Sri Lanka already know the benefits of LGN. It is also recognised internationally as well as regionally. It was not long ago that a team of the Government of Bangladesh visited ICTA to learn and adapt and adopt LGN.

Lanka Gate Network owes its attraction to the countries of the region and the world to the foresight of H. E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa who originated the eSri Lanka initiative. Among the core aims of the eSri Lanka initiative is the minimisation of inconvenience both to the public and Government institutions in receiving or offering public service.

The convenience caused by LGN may be illustrated as follows: if a person born in Matara with his birth registered at the Matara Secretariat is now settled down in Colombo and wants to get a certified copy of his birth certificate, what was done in the past was for the applicant to physically travel to the Matara Secretariat to get this done. But with the Lanka Gate Network in place the required information for tasks of this nature is retrievable in any of the relevant Government institutions and physical travel will not be required. This is a great convenience for the applicant. Similarly the Government institution in one locality need not wait till a response from the concerned counterpart Government institution in another area is despatch by post. This is a convenience for the Government institutions concerned.

Participating in the signing of the contract, ICTA Chairman Prof. P. W. Epasinghe congratulated the implementing partner on the work done in phase I and urged them for better performance in phase II.

Samsung Networks Inc. Vice President Dae Hee Kim said that they would go beyond mere buyer-seller relationship with ICTA, complete phase II perfectly, contribute to ICT industry in Sri Lanka and support eAsia 2009.

Speaking on the occasion ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura said that while connecting the 325 Government institutions online that occurred in phase I was very helpful, phase II that would interconnect 150 more Government institutions including those in the North and East was very important.

ICTA Re-engineering Government Programme Director Wasantha Deshapriya participating in the function said that LGN was pivotal in fulfilling the pledge contained in the Mahinda Chintna policy statement of H. E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa of bringing the benefits of ICT to the people.

Programme Head, Information Infrastructure, ICTA, Dil Piyaratna said that the internet connectivity available under phase I had been fully exploited. This showed that ICT penetration in Sri Lanka including remote villages was quite high. Interconnection of Government institutions in the East like those in the Ampara district under phase II would go a long way in making the Government become more fully online connected island-wide.

While ICTA chairman Prof. P. W. Epasinghe, Samsung Networks Inc. Vice President Dae Hee Kim, ICTA Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura and, ICTA Board member Ravi Senanayake were signatories to the contract, ICTA Programme Director / Legal Advisor and ICTA Re-engineering Government Programme Director Wasantha Deshapriya and other ICTA and Samsung Networks Inc. personnel were present on the occasion.