‘Govt’s efforts to uplift ICT literacy rate encouraging’ :

Fast expansion of internet to change economic pattern

Charumini DE SILVA

Federal Investigation Agency Government of Pakistan, Additional Director General, Ammar Hussain Jaffri said that with the fast expansion of the internet and mobile phones becoming internet based; mobile trading, mobile banking and the online decision support system would change the entire pattern of economies.

He was speaking at the Sri Lanka Ebanking 2009 at the Ceylon Continental Hotel, yesterday. This is the first international e-banking conference and exhibition in the country.

He said that due to the rapid growth of the technology - from skilled-based economies to knowledge-based economies it is expected to change the existing economic pattern in the world.

The efforts that the Government have taken to uplift the ICT literacy rate, while taking the initiative to the rural community is encouraging. Taking ICT to the rural community is one of the best ways that could be adopted to develop the rural community, Jaffri said.

Science and Technology Minister, Prof. Tissa Vitharana said that the advancement of technology should be a part of helping the SME and micro entrepreneurs while creating more access to credit especially in the rural areas. Sri Lanka is moving towards a new era and it is essential that the transactions have to be more rapid, accurate on the records and up-to-date.

Therefore, the use of ICT will help the banking industry immensely. The industry should be cautious in every aspect, as cyber frauds are always one-step ahead of the legislators.

He said that with ICT becoming more popular there will be more threats from cyber frauds. Therefore, it is necessary to train and introduce awareness programs for the judiciary and the police in the near future.

One of the reasons for the global economic crisis was that many banking systems did not have strict procedures. Central Banks should have a firm monitoring system in their countries banking systems, he said.

Prof. Vitharana said this was an era of internet and computing.

With the rapid growth of technology, a click of a button would benefit the banking industry and the public by saving time and money. There are many things that we need to learn and share from our regional countries.