Financial Times

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), under the authority of the Presidents Office, is now taking steps to introduce ICT skills to all government officers in the country.

ICTA expects to train around 12,000 officers spread throughout the country in all aspects of ICT. The project commenced recently with 400 government officers of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. Governance under the e-Sri Lanka programme aims at re-engineering the government business process and improving delivery and access to government services.

ICTA has sponsored the formation of the IT Capacity Building Programme (ICBP) with private sector participation to provide a boost to the ICT industry, including the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and training sectors. ICBP aims to assist the industry to achieve a revenue target of $1 billion by the year 2012

Asia-Pacific governments have enhanced their spending on the advancement of technology in governments immensely, with the aim of cutting costs, increasing overall efficiency and delivery of services, and improving the climate to attract foreign investment.

It is estimated that e-government spending in Asia Pacific will rise to $1.4 billion by 2007 from $800,000 in 2002. Three countries Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong have emerged as leaders in this area and have gathered expertise in the field that will fuel growth in the region. Their experience reveals that the savings are accrued from online registration, lower transaction costs, web-based tax declarations etc. Increasing the efficiency of governments will contribute to the overall competitiveness and create a positive investment climate.

Closer to home, India has made vast strides in e-governance covering areas such as property tax payments, birth/death certificate processing, registering of complaints, among others. The Bangalore-based e-governments foundation was started in 2003 with a goal of creating systems capable of improving the quality of delivery-service levels to citizens through the local body networks. The principal aim here is more than a monetary return but a positive change towards improved governance.

For developing countries pursuing e-government it is not easy as governments need to balance people’s needs, the efficiency needs and bureaucracy controls, where revenue and fiscal limitations are yet another issue. It has to be admitted, though, that Sri Lanka’s progress on e-governance is below expected levels.

E-government must move in parallel with efforts to eliminate regional disparity, and thanks to developments in telecommunications, a conducive environment is now developing. It’s not only in the villages, but also in major city post offices where we find a key government institution serving the public, except that for a few model ones though the vast majority are outdated and dilapidated, offering the poorest of facilities but still serving a large customer base. Post offices can be modernised with e-support to improve their service-delivery levels. Introducing technology to mail sorting, cash receipting, accounting, money orders, etc, is not a very cumbersome task.

Another institution that’s at the centre of rural administration is the Divisional Secretary’s (formerly known as the DRO and then AGA) office, which provides a host of government services and is accepted as a mini government by villagers.

In fact, it was during President R. Premadasa’s Gam Udawa period that these offices were somewhat upgraded with technology, such as fax machines. Providing e-support to these rural nerve centers could make a big impact on people’s lives.

A visit to the main Land Registry in Colombo provides adequate evidence about how backward we are.

The records and the transactions these offices have to maintain are enormous and certainly beyond the capacity of a manual system. The recent VAT scam at the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) is probably another eye opener for adequate computer technology and risk management.

Here again the IRD has been struggling with an outdated IT system and the price paid has been a heavy one. Other key government institutions are the Registrar of Motor Vehicles and local government bodies that generate revenue as well as serve the public.

It is hoped that the ICTA will be able to introduce the required ICT culture to the public sector sooner than later.

Thoughts for the week

Whilst on technology, we are glad to note the new look given to the Parliament drive roundabout near Devi Balka with automated traffic lighting which should generate savings on fuel wastage, as well as increasing the productivity of the harassed traffic police. These measures are welcome. Given the latest price hike of fuel and probably more to follow, the government plans to bring down the cost of living, it is therefore opportune to examine the pricing mechanism of three-wheelers that are mostly patronised by the common man. At present, surprisingly, this most commonly-used channel of public transport is not subject to any regulations in their pricing, nor are they metered, where the operators fix their rates in a manner only known to themselves. This practice is not in keeping with accepted norms of the modern civilized world where transparent technology is available to meet the needs of both parties.