The New Zealand business delegation sees immense potential for information communication technology (ICT) development in Sri Lanka and is keen to have the presence of more companies in Sri Lanka, Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure Ministry Secretary Wasantha Deshapriya told the Sunday Observer last week.
He said already many New Zealand companies are present in the country in diverse businesses sectors making a noteworthy contribution to the economy.
‘The delegation sees great scope for business ventures in the ICT sector in Sri Lanka with the government’s demand for ICT growing each year. The companies which are already present in Sri Lanka are keen to expand their foot print further,” Deshapriya said.
The New Zealand business delegation comprising around 20 top corporates was in the country last week to explore possibilities for setting up ventures and expanding operations in the country. The delegation included over six ICT based companies.
“These companies are focusing on off-shore operation. Some of the companies will l take part in bids when tenders are called for foreign service providers,” Deshapriya said.
New Zealand is known for innovation and creativity. The country has vast strengthen in software development, healthcare technologies, financial services technology and digital media which grew by over 20 percent in the recent years.
The Sri Lankan government committed over Rs. 10 billion for ICT development last year and this year it has already committed over Rs. 17 billion to develop digital education in the country.
“We are focusing on education content development. Many companies are waiting for tenders to come,” the ministry secretary said.
He said the government has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) to connect government organizations to a single network called the ‘Lanka Government Network’ which will provide high bandwidth data which could go up to 100mbps.
‘We hope to build the infrastructure highway through which any service that needs Internet connection could leverage on it to provide other services,” Deshapriya said.
The ministry is also working on a pilot project to empower grass-root level officers of the public sector to make the sector more effective.
We will provide tabs to Grama Niladharis under the e-Grama Niladhari program which will be launched this month in Colombo.
The program will be implemented in the Colombo Divisional Secretariat and three more Divisional Secretaries. At the pilot stage around 175 tabs will be provided and then go up to 7,000 tabs this year.
“We have also launched many capacity building programs for senior citizens to bridge the knowledge gap.
We will conduct programs in agricultural areas to impart the know-how for crop development through technology,” the Secretary said.
With regard to the Google ‘Loon Project’ he said the ministry is awaiting Cabinet approval for the release of the spectrum to implement the project.