Policy Framework

The National Digital Policy outlines Sri Lanka’s digital agenda for 2020 to 2025. The Policy provides the high-level principles and conceptual framework for Sri Lanka to achieve sustained digital economic development and growth, through the creation of a Digital Government and a Digital Economy.

Digital Government: Digital solutions will enable better communication between citizens and government agencies to uphold democratic values. Similarly, these solutions may be harnessed to improve the quality of government service delivery through integrated and efficient processes, to reduce bureaucracy, and improve accountability and transparency. A series of strategic national initiatives are to be established under this pillar to facilitate the enhancement of digital identification (digital ID), fintech, healthtech, and other similar government-wide services.

Digital Economy: Businesses must embrace digital solutions to adapt, disrupt and remain competitive, creating a broad-base of opportunities and driving sustainable economic growth across Sri Lanka. Digitisation and digitalisation in the private sector, by large companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups, will be key to achieving Sri Lanka’s digital vision. Digitally connecting these firms to global value chains and global production networks will be integral to Sri Lanka’s success.

In addition Capacity Building, Technology Diffusion and Digital Law & Policies have been identified as cross cutting enablers in achieving digital government and digital economy.

This Policy program focuses on developing the beneficial and necessary environment to achieve the objectives of ICTA. Its goal is to create a pro-active policy and a regulatory environment that is supportive of the ICT transformation and ICT-based development, to develop the ICT leadership and capacity, and to communicate these initiatives and policies to the wider stakeholder audience.

Strategies

  • Facilitate the formulation and adoption of a National ICT Policy, ICT Action Plan and necessary Legal Framework in partnership with the Administrative Reforms Committee and relevant stakeholder groups.
  • Provide focus and leadership in ICT for development, including building ‘e-leadership’ skills among top government officials, business and civil society leaders.
  • By implementing projects in a timely and cost-effective manner, make ICTA a project management “centre of excellence”. In doing so, the external capacity in project management skills is further developed.
  • Monitor and evaluate progress to:
  • ensure a focus on development results, through obtaining feedback and lessons learned
  • inform decision making
  • continually adjust strategies.
  • Create a ‘knowledge culture’ at ICTA. This can be done by using global knowledge, along with best practices for ICT development to share lessons and experiences related to ‘e-Sri Lanka’.
  • Build awareness of e-Sri Lanka, ICTA, and the benefits of ICT, through an effective communications strategy.

ICT policy for Government

The ICT policy for Government acts as a guide for Government in using ICTs to achieve overall development within agencies and in the delivery of services. It will assist in benchmarking each organization’s activities against the Policy, which will enable agencies to identify the areas which need attention and where rectification needs to be carried out. It will also ensure consistency in ICT activities. The Policy conveys the minimum requirements expected to which, Government organizations can add to and create their own organizational ICT policies, within this Policy framework. Thus, the Policy will be a first step towards implementing a standards-based approach in implementing e-Government services.

National ICT Policy

The National ICT Policy formally recognizes ICT as a major driving force for national development. In this regard, the Policy will highlight strategies and action plans for an enabling infrastructure, legal frameworks, information security and standards, human resources capacity building, socio economic development (including poverty alleviation, health care and use of ICT in local languages), and utilizing ICT for trade facilitation and e-commerce, e-government, industry and global competitiveness, and environmental issues. The policy will be drafted with stakeholder participation to ensure the document is representative and holistic in nature.

Project Results

  • A formal ICT Policy for Government setting standards for implementation and management of ICT within government entities.
  • A National ICT Policy describing the manner in which ICT will contribute to development.

Project Benefits

  • Structured adoption and uniformity of ICT in all its aspects to make Government more efficient and effective, and improve access to Government services, to create a more citizen centric Government.
  • A framework to support and guide all ICT related activities in the country

Policies

The key objective of eGovernment is to provide better citizen services while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government. In order to do this in an orderly and united manner, the eGovernment policy….

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IN ESSENCE

  • Here we discuss the policy framework for developing an environment catered to achieving the goals of ‘eSri Lanka’ – a digitally enhanced country.
  • ICTA plays a major role in driving the successful implementation of a nation-wide ICT-for-development initiative.
  • ICTA will act as a policy setter and direction giver in the field of ICT
  • Creation of a National ICT Policy and an ICT Action Plan.
  • ICTA is to be made a “centre of excellence”.
  • Create a ‘knowledge culture’ at ICTA.
  • Build awareness of e-Sri Lanka, ICTA, and the benefits of ICT.
  • ICT policy for Government acts as a guide for Government in using ICTs to achieve overall development.
  • National ICT Policy formally recognizes ICT as a major driving force for national development.
  • eGovernment is the method for using ICT to carry out the main functions of the government.
  • The objectives of eGovernment include: Good governance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, responsibility and participation.
  • Benefits of eGovernment include: better living standards, quick access to services, fast and easy dealings with government transactions, better regulations, higher transparency and minimum corruption.
  • The first eGovernment policy of Sri Lanka was to be adopted and implemented by all government organizations during the period of 2010-2012.
  • A presidential circular was disclosed setting out a few guidelines for all government organizations to follow with regard to the eGovernment policy.
  • The working committee prepared a policy implementation checklist for facilitating the implementation and reporting its success to ICTA.
  • The working committee also identified an easy approach for implementing the policy by using the eGovernment maturity levels.
  • Once the identified approach is followed, the government organizations will be able to look at the policy requirements based on their eGovernment maturity levels.
  • The “Policy Implementation Check List” will be used in order to assess and verify the eGovernment Policy implementation by government organizations.
  • Information Security (IS) Policy: condensed IS Policy for Government organizations, which establishes a baseline level of security throughout.
  • The IS Policy covers all issues regarding administrative security, technical security and physical security.
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