World Bank commends ICTA’s e-Sri Lanka initiative

The e-Sri Lanka initiative is well on its way to achieving its goals successfully the World Bank said (WB).

According to the WB’s Country Director, Naoko Ishii, a report issued by its supervisory mission recently confirmed the good progress recorded under the e-Sri Lanka programme, and said the report would be circulated among top Government officials.

During the two-week long mission, the review team’s observation include the following:

Amidst many difficulties, the e-Sri Lanka programme is achieving good progress, moving ahead slowly but steadily. The Nenasala programme has established 400 telecentres against its original target of 200 - showing exceptional performance levels. While commending the creation of the Nenasala brand, the team was also impressed that the start-up cost of these centres have been kept way below the global average for telecentres.

The report also commended the e-Society grants awarding scheme stating that it has benefited many a rural villager and the myriad projects under this programme area have gained not only local recognition but international as well.

Ms. Ishii said that the fact that projects under the e-Society programme are being made available to citizens via ICTA’s Nenasala network is exemplary.

Under the E-Leadership component, ICTA has further strengthened its efforts towards building a strong legal framework for ICT development in Sri Lanka taking into consideration the new standards and global legal environment.

The recent enactment of the Computer Crimes Act No. 24 of 2007 and the strengthening of supporting institutions in this regard by the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka displays its tireless commitment towards e-Sri Lanka.

Touching on the Re-engineering Government programme, Ishii states that it is by far the largest and most complex component, and has made progress in certain areas. However, the component has been marked with procurement delays, but noted that important groundwork had been laid.

The development of human resources in the country via the ICT HR Capacity Building Programme and ICT Investment and Private Sector Development Programme have benefited the local private sector greatly, including the small and medium enterprises as well. While recognising good governance practices at ICTA, Ishii praised the Chairman and Board of ICTA along with its Leadership Team.