Government to enact a Privacy Act soon

A blueprint has been drawn by the government in conjunction with a foreign company to promote digital technology in the country by having a road map for Sri Lanka’s future development, said the Minister of Telecommunication, Foreign Employment and Sports, Harin Fernando.

He was speaking at the New Thinkers Symposium on Technology and Economic Transformation held at the Institute of Policy Studies ( IPS), Colombo 7 recently.

The Minister said that two thirds of Sri Lanka is now connected to fibre optic cable where 336 Governments Agents’ divisions are connected to it. The biggest challenge the government is facing was due to non- coordination and support within the ministries today. The government’s intention is to make digital technology to be the law within the country to coordinate functions of all ministries to be more efficient when dealing with the public.

“We are giving tablets, computers to 7500 of the 14,000 Grama Niladhari’s in the country so that, birth and death certificates of persons can be issued to their kith and kin quickly.” Adding further, he said the Finance Ministry has already initiated a loan scheme for IT star t- ups through the E n t e r p r i s e D eve l o p m e n t Programme. Meanwhile a Privacy Act is to be formulated soon and the matter has been referred to the Attorney General’s Department for approval.

Ms. Nimesha Dissanayeke from the IPS said the topic of ‘ Smart Agriculture’ was when new technologies and new crop varieties are introduced to withstand disease that affects crops and extreme climate patterns. A three year research done by the IPS in 2016 with 900 farmers in Sri Lanka found that most rural farmers are used to traditional farming methods instead of using smart phone mobile apps to obtain weather information.

When asked why, farmers said that they do not want to deviate from traditional methods by using sophisticated technology. However farmers use the ‘GOVI MITHURU’ application that provides marketing data and prices of commodities. “Our intention is to incorporate weather patterns and marketing apps for the benefit of rural farmers.”

Adam Collins of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute ( LKI) said that it was worthwhile looking at the Indian Ocean region in economic terms on challenges arising in the region. The Indian Ocean represent 28 counties in the region that has undersea cables that carries 80 per cent of the Internet traffic, a crucial component of today’s economy and is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The region has one of the best ports that include Singapore and some in the United Arab Emirates and some of the worst ports elsewhere. Ms. Rehana Mohammed from Verite commenting on E- Governance said that E-Governance can make the public service more efficient and accessible. However reports show that 90 per cent of state- owned projects were total failures and some were partial failures. Priyanka Krishnamoorthy from the Ministry of Finance said the gender gap in the participation of the labour force has widened in recent times. A World Bank report shows that women would prefer to work in the public sector than in the private sector and the Department of Census and Statistics has outlined why the private sector is not keen on employing more female employees.

Ms. Mahesha Jayawardena from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a shift in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy was witnessed following the conclusion of the war where more emphasis was on commercial diplomacy. “We are looking to promote Sri Lanka’s exports, increase FDI’s and increase tourist travels and skilled migration of labour,” she said.

The government’s intention is to make digital technology to be the law within the country to coordinate functions of all ministries to be more efficient when dealing with the public.