ICTA to increase Government web presence

The Government Internet Data Centre (GIDC) has been set up by Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) to host all public sector websites.

ICTA, functioning under the office of the Prime Minister, has taken an initiative to assist government organisations to develop their official websites and host those sites in a secure, modern data centre.

This is another step in providing government information and services to citizens over cost-effective communication channels.

This project targets to increase the Government web presence by developing 150 websites, host those in a secure hosting environment and connect all government websites to Government Web Portal www.gov.lk which is the single entry point to the Sri Lankan Government in the cyber space.

Currently, in Sri Lanka, a considerable number of public organisations has been using the internet in dissemination the information to the citizen.

However, very few public organisations still deliver web enabled services which are limited to providing information and downloading forms.

Most of the websites in public sector organisations contain obsolete and useless information since those websites are not regularly updated and maintained.

The main objective of the project is to encourage the public organisation in dissemination of information and delivery of services through Internet by providing financial and technical assistan to construct their websites and by providing web hosting facilities.

All new sites will be equipped with content management support tools to provide convenient means of updating websites by owners.

All websites will provide information in all three languages.

"We are planning to complete 30 websites at the end of this year and hosting facility will be available from early November. The services are free for public organisations," Programme Manager of ICTA D.C. Dissanayake said.

He invited government organisations to use this opportunity to develop and launch their websites to provide information to the public in a more convenient and effective manner.