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| Friday, 23 April 2004 |
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More transparent, people friendly policies to promote ICT industry - Prof Tissa Vitharana By Sudarshana Perera
The Ministry of Science and Technology in the UPFA government is to adopt a more transparent and people-friendly ICT policies to promote the ICT industry while placing emphasis on promotion of ICT education at grassroots level to contain the digital divide. Minister of Science and Technology Prof Tissa Vitharana in an interview with the Daily News said that he is looking forward to introduce a coordinated program in consultation with ICT professionals and academia to create an environment to transfer dividends of ICT to those in rural areas. Minister Vitharana also assured the ICT community of his williness and readiness to grant proper ICT leadership in the country and to look into their grievances and industrial needs." I want to set up a system under which those who cannot afford to acquire new technology will be supported by the government projects and private sector endeavours. There are computers available at villages donated by government and private agencies. But those units are not readily usable due to various reasons. I want to find out the reasons behind and draw up a proper plan to fully utilise the ICT resources granted to grassroot level bodies and organisations. He said that ICT should be better promoted as a subject at school level to achieve long-term benefits. Since Sri Lanka is far behind other countries in the field of ICT, a comprehensive and transparent policy should be formulated and expedited to achieve its immediate goals. He said a joint effort between the government and private sector would be implemented to improve software, hardware, education and other aspects of the ICT sector in Sri Lanka. When asked whether the Minister would carry out the e-SriLanka initiative started by the previous government, he said that he wants time to familiarise himself with the ongoing programs. He also called upon the private sector to come into a open forum with the government to discuss issues pertaining to the subject. Commenting on the complaints by the local ICT community that the past governments have awarded the contracts to foreign organisations, when the local community has the ability to do so, the Minister said that priority would be given to local ICT companies who have a high level of competence to deliver the goods. "If local ICT companies do have the requisite competence, we will look into granting government's contracts to them", he said. When asked as what measures he is planing to adopt to solve the tax structure which the local software and hardware vendors are critical of, he said if the tax structure is preventing the expansion of the use of computer, he would certainly look into the issue after studying it in detail . He said that it was vital to have a proper program to harness the ICT growth in the country and contain problems that arise when funds granted for several ICT programs are not fully utilised. The local ICT community also recently called upon the new government to ensure transparency, efficiency and productivity in this sector. |
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