Financial Times

COE to educate civil servants on e-Government solutions
By Akhry Ameer
An e-Government Centre of Excellence (COE) was opened by the Prime Minister on Thursday to educate civil servants and win support for effective e-Government solutions. The COE located at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) is a public-private sector partnership that will demonstrate e-government solutions used in other countries and develop proof of concepts for deployment locally.

Manju Haththotuwa, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) said the centre is another step in the e-Sri Lanka ICT roadmap that enables to enlighten key stakeholders on e-Government solutions. “The Centre will showcase best practices in e-governance, successful strategies and solutions from around the world, develop and pilot applications and build capacity of public to make e-government a reality,” he said.

The running of the centre, an area of concern to many has been overcome by an effective public-private sector partnership. While the SLIDA, the school of public centre learning will house and run the centre, knowledge and financial support has been extended by private-sector partners Oracle Corporation Singapore, PC House, and Millennium Information Technologies representing SUN Micrososystems.

Lalith Weeratunge, Secretary to the Prime Minister, in charge of the e-Sri Lanka initiative at the Prime Minister’s office, said the centre will play a crucial role developing the 640 Chief Innovation Officers (CIO) appointed to front the ICT initiatives in every Ministry, provincial council, government department and agency across the country.
Similar successful COEs have been set up in Gurgaon New Delhi, Beijing and Manila in the Asian subcontinent to promote e-Government in the respective countries.

Already the ICTA has implemented pilots in e-Government related projects like the Govi Gnana System, Sinhalese and Tamil messaging on mobile phones, Nanasalas or e-Libraries in rural areas. The COE will forge further into similar government administrative solutions and citizen services before full-scale deployment. Some of the citizen services envisioned are in the area of motoring, pensions, foreign employment, customs and a national population registry – a central identification system for all services such as the social security number in other countries.

Weeratunge, speaking to the media earlier during the week said a central Government Information Centre is also expected to be a reality by October this year. The information centre will be a one-stop multi-access point for around 100 of the largely demanded citizen services.

The centre can be contacted 24 hours of the day throughout the year and will provide information in a streamlined structured through the help of a computer information system on obtaining of a national identity card, marriage certificate, copies of certificates, registering of deeds, etc. This, he said, will go a long way in bridging the gap between government and citizens who often are directed from pillar to post by non-customer friendly personnel at many of the government institutions.

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