ICTA holds workshop on e-Government
Knowledge of ICT among Government Institutional Heads greatly helps
better public service, said Public Management Reforms Ministry Secretary
P. B. Abeykoon, during his keynote address at a workshop in Hambantota
last Thursday on the e-Government policy presented by President Mahinda
Rajapaksa and approved by the cabinet last December.
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From left – Hambantota District Secretary R. M. D. S.
Meegasmulla, Galle District Additional District Secretary K.
Bandula Harischandra, Matara District Secretary W. K. K.
Athukorala and ICTA Re-engineering Government Program Director
Wasantha Deshapriya participating in the workshop. This exercise
is on the importance of peer coordination for ensuring success
in public service. |
The one-day workshop organized by the Information and Communication
Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) at the Peacock Beach Hotel in
Hambantota was the third in the series of 10 National Workshops on
e-Government Policy aimed at familiarizing Government Institutional
Heads and Chief Innovative Officers with the e-Government Policy.
Addressing about 106 participants comprising District Secretaries,
Divisional Secretaries and Chief Innovative Officers of the Southern
Province such as the Galle, Hambantota and Matara Districts and the
Moneragala District of the Uva Province, Secretary Abeykoon drew widely
from his experience impacting on the audience the value and importance
of ICT exposure of Government Institutional Heads in delivering a better
public service.
Explaining the objective of the 10 workshops scheduled for 2010 ICTA
Chief Operating Officer Reshan Dewapura said that the series of
workshops on e-Government policy is aimed at accelerating the
implementation of the e-Government policy islandwide in a uniform way
maintaining professional standards. “This prevents unnecessary
repetition of labour, waste of time and energy both on the part of the
public and Government employees and contributes to serving the people in
a more efficient, effective and people friendly way”, Dewapura said.
The first in the series of National e-Government Policy workshops
conducted under the guidance of the Presidential Secretariat was held in
Colombo on March 18 this year. Making the keynote address at the first
workshop with about 170 core participants ICTA Chairman P.W. Epasinghe
had pointed out that usually it was only the Opposition that spoke about
the Government’s Policy statement after the election and forming of the
Government.
“In the case of the Government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa the
Government speaks constantly about its election manifesto in its sincere
effort to implement the policy. This is true with regard to the Mahinda
Chintana policy statement and its extension the Mahinda Chintana -
‘Vision for the future’.
In a communication issued to all Government Institutional Heads,
Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga has urged all to implement
the e-Government policy 100 percent for actively putting into effect the
Mahinda Chintana - ‘Vision for the Future’ “. The Secretary to the
President has instructed all concerned Government Institutional Heads
including those from Ministries, Departments and Statutory Boards to
become familiar with the e-Government policy before the end of the year. |
